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Howard, who can play on the wing or in the centre, joined Saints from Western Province in April 2015.
The 24-year-old played for the Stormers in Super Rugby and also had a spell with Munster last season.
"I am really looking forward to returning to play in the Pro12," said Howard, who won the Junior World Championship with South Africa in 2012.
"I am sure that there are good times ahead with a young and exciting squad being assembled and I am looking forward to making the move to Wales."
Dragons head coach Kingsley Jones said the region had been monitoring Howard's progress for 18 months.
"He is a dangerous attacking player with both strength and pace, and his physical nature of playing will add to our youthful backline," Jones said.
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Northampton's South African utility back Pat Howard will join Newport Gwent Dragons for the 2016-17 season.
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Saturday
Premiership
Inverness CT 2-1 Hamilton Academical
Celtic 4-1 St Johnstone
Kilmarnock 0-1 Dundee
Motherwell 0-1 Ross County
Championship
Dumbarton 0-1 Falkirk
Greenock Morton 1-1 Dundee United
Hibernian 1-1 St Mirren
Queen of the South 0-1 Dunfermline Athletic
Raith Rovers 2-1 Ayr United
Sunday's Premiership previews
Partick Thistle v Rangers (12:15)
Hearts v Aberdeen (15:00)
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Match reports from Saturday's Scottish Premiership and Championship games.
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18 March 2017 Last updated at 17:34 GMT
She made the remark during her speech to her party's conference meeting in Aberdeen.
Ms Sturgeon told more than 2,000 delegates: "She has time to think again and I hope she does. If her concern is timing then - within reason - I am happy to have that discussion.
"But let the prime minister be in no doubt. The will of our parliament must and will prevail."
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Scotland's First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon says Theresa May could re-think her approach to the timing of a second Scottish independence referendum.
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Prof Graham Upton, who was vice chancellor at Oxford Brookes University and Cumbria University, will take up the role from Monday.
His predecessor Prof Michael Scott formally leaves in March, but departed on 1 January to do research.
Glyndwr has had an operational and academic restructure in recent months.
Last June, the university was suspended from recruiting overseas students after a Home Office investigation into alleged visa fraud.
Its right to sponsor foreign students was reinstated in November.
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Glyndwr University has appointed an interim vice-chancellor three weeks after his predecessor left the role.
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Four charities withdrew as official partners from the Kiltwalk earlier this year and its chief executive stepped down a few weeks later.
The Kiltwalk stages sponsored walks across Scotland to raise money for leading children's charities.
Its 2013 accounts showed more was spent on costs than went to charity.
There is no suggestions regulations were broken.
Kiltwalk chairman Michael Ure said it had incurred additional costs because of a "re-structuring".
Mr Ure and the rest of the trustees have now stood down.
The Kiltwalk said a new board would oversee the continued development of the charity.
The group has also attracted support from one of Scotland's richest men, the entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter, whose foundation has committed long-term funding.
Mr Hunter said: "The Kiltwalk is a fantastic concept for raising much-needed funds for Scotland's children's charities and has our absolute support.
"We intend over the next couple of months to redefine and improve the model, building on the foundations already in place, to maximise returns for charities and turbo-charge Scotland's Kiltwalkers for 2016."
The Kiltwalk was set up in 2011 with the aim of bringing Scotland's leading children's charities together for a series of sponsored walks.
It grew from 800 walkers that year to more than 12,000 across the country in 2014.
However, earlier this year four charities - CLIC Sargent, Cash for Kids, Aberlour and Edinburgh's Sick Kids Friends Foundation - withdrew as official partners.
CLIC Sargent and Aberlour indicated to BBC Scotland that they had concerns over the amount of money reaching them from the Kiltwalk.
The most recent set of accounts for the Kiltwalk showed that from an income of just over £1.6m, £780,000 had been spent on running costs - more than the £776,000 which went to charity.
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A Scottish charity has replaced its entire board of trustees following concerns over the amount of money it was giving to charitable causes.
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It has already reduced administrative staff from 23 to 18 and employs 63 musicians.
The orchestra said it is negotiating with musicians to get rid of what it calls "restrictive practices".
The orchestra assured MLAs it is trying to become less Belfast-centred.
Sir George Bain, the executive chairman, told the committee it could send smaller groups of musicians out to towns that could not accommodate the full orchestra.
He also added that musicians were paid full salaries even when not giving performances, but their contracts mean they could not be used for other projects, without extra payment.
Earlier this month, Sir George revealed the orchestra would be forced to close by the end of the year unless it received £500,000 in emergency funding.
Sir George Bain's warning came as he revealed the details behind a rescue plea to Belfast City Council that could mean a name change for the orchestra.
It costs about £4.5m a year to run the Ulster Orchestra.
It said it had lost 28% of funding from public sources - the equivalent of £1m - in the past four years.
In a bid to survive, it has asked Belfast City Council to back a rescue plan that includes a £500,000 funding guarantee to keep it solvent until March next year when it would be restructured.
It is also asking for the free use for the next five years of the Ulster Hall, which costs about £160,000 a year.
According to Sir George, the orchestra could end up changing its name to something like the Belfast Symphony if the rescue plan was accepted.
If the money is not forthcoming, the orchestra is warning it could go into administration before Christmas and close not long afterwards.
It is the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland, and plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and the Waterfront Hall.
The BBC gives financial support of £639,000 a year to the orchestra.
Belfast City Council has yet to respond to the orchestra's request for additional funding.
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The Ulster Orchestra has told Stormont's culture committee it cannot cut more staff to save money, while it tackles a £500,000 gap in funding.
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The historic playhouse, which opened on 30 May 1766, is the oldest continuously working theatre in the English speaking world.
As part of the anniversary celebrations an 18th Century "thunder run", which recreates the sound of thunder above the auditorium, was recently restored.
It will be used for the first time since 1942 in a production of King Lear next month.
Some of the UK's most famous and best-loved actors learned their trade at the Bristol Old Vic.
Graduates of the famous Bristol Old Vic Theatre School include Sir Patrick Stewart, Jeremy Irons, Miranda Richardson, Daniel Day Lewis, Patricia Routledge, Tim Pigott-Smith, Pete Postlethwaite, Mark Strong, Brian Blessed, Olivia Colman, Gene Wilder, Amanda Redman and Naomie Harris.
Bristol Old Vic features a Grade I listed auditorium which has recently been restored.
Although not a student at the theatre, Peter O'Toole began his stage career there, and described it as "the loveliest theatre in the world".
Daniel Day Lewis called it "The most beautiful theatre in England".
The old playhouse is reputedly haunted.
People have reported seeing the ghost of Sarah M'Cready, the theatre manager who worked there 180 years ago, although some say it is in fact the spirit of 18th Century actress Sarah Siddons.
The spirit of a former scenery painter called Richard, who died in an accident in the 1950s, is also said to sometimes move objects around.
The theatre was originally built without Royal patent and was therefore technically illegal, so it had to disguise plays as musical concerts and hide its entrance from public sight.
It finally got a royal patent in 1778 when it became the Theatre Royal.
It became the Bristol Old Vic in 1946 when a company of actors from London's Old Vic was sent there to perform.
To mark the 250th anniversary plays from each of the four centuries it has been in existence have been, or will be, performed.
The original theatre was founded in 1766 by 50 men and women, who each paid £50 in return for a "silver ticket", which granted the bearer the right to watch every performance in the theatre, forever.
Investors included local councillors, two future MPs and at least three Quakers.
To mark the 250th anniversary new silver tickets have been minted. Each one has been sold for £50,000 to help raise funds for the theatre's redevelopment.
The theatre has survived for two and a half centuries despite coming near to closure on several occasions.
During World War Two much of ancient Bristol was destroyed, but the theatre sustained only slight damage.
It fell into disrepair and in 1942 it was sold after a series of failed attempts to revive it.
The new buyers planned to turn it into a banana ripening warehouse, but an appeal was launched to save the theatre and it reopened in 1943.
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Bristol Old Vic theatre is marking its 250th anniversary.
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The crash has closed the A76 Dumfries to Kilmarnock Road at Sanquhar in south west Scotland.
A major clean-up operation is under way and police say the route is expected to be closed for most of the day.
Lengthy diversions are in operation and motorists are being urged to avoid the area. The driver was not hurt.
The glue container burst when the lorry jack-knifed on the road at 05:30, police said.
The incident happened in the town centre and diversions are in place around the affected area in Sanquhar.
Traffic is able to rejoin the A76 either side of the town but the re-routing has caused difficulties for large, industrial vehicles.
A Dumfries and Galloway police spokesman said: "The glue container on the lorry has burst and glue spilling is affecting the road surface.
"Road diversions are being put in place. However, motorists are asked to avoid the area if possible."
A member of police control staff said the road closure is expected to be in place for several hours.
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A road has been closed after a lorry carrying glue jack-knifed, spilling its load over the carriageway.
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Ms Suu Kyi will start the four-day visit next Wednesday, her National League for Democracy (NLD) party said.
An NLD spokesman said she would meet China's president, Xi Jinping, and premier, Li Keqiang.
Relations between the countries have cooled in recent years, partly because of violence near their mutual border.
Myanmar has been fighting rebels in its eastern Kokang region, which borders China's Yunnan province.
At least five people in Yunnan died in March when an aircraft from Myanmar, also known as Burma, dropped a bomb on a sugar cane field.
China sent patrols to the border in response.
While Myanmar's military junta was under Western sanctions, and Ms Suu Kyi was under house arrest, China remained a loyal ally.
But since reforms were introduced in 2011, the government of President Thein Sein has allied itself closely with the United States, although China continues to help develop major infrastructure projects in Myanmar.
As head of the NLD, Ms Suu Kyi is expected to play a key role in Myanmar's presidential elections this November, although she is unlikely to be able to stand for president.
She is fighting to overturn a clause in the constitution that currently blocks her from standing as a candidate.
Inviting Ms Suu Kyi is an acknowledgement by the Chinese that, after the Burmese general election later this year, she's likely to be a political force they can no longer ignore.
The trip will also pose a moral dilemma for the Burmese opposition leader.
Just like Ms Suu Kyi two decades ago, Chinese writer Liu Xiabo has been detained for his pro-democracy activities - and then, like her, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Will Ms Suu Kyi say anything while in China about her fellow Nobel laureate? Or will she choose to remain silent to avoid embarrassing her hosts?
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Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's opposition leader, will visit China for the first time next week at a time of tension between the two countries.
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The O's lost 5-0 at Accrington on Tuesday, six days before a winding-up petition is due to be heard.
"It was a very hurtful night - certainly my lowest night in football," Webb, 33, told BBC London.
"I'm trying to take on a lot, carry a lot of things on my shoulders. It's hard."
Newport's win at Morecambe on Tuesday saw Webb's side go bottom of the fourth tier for the first time this season.
Orient have lost five of their last six games and are seven points from safety with nine matches remaining.
Webb, who is in his first management job, added: "I'm trying to reassure players about winding-up orders, and reassure myself really because I haven't got a clue what's going on either.
"The whole thing's testing, but really all we should be worrying about is setting the team up to try and win a football game.
"Unfortunately, your heart sinks when it goes to 2-0 because then it really is game over when you're down the bottom."
Orient will present a "funding plan" at the High Court to stave off Monday's winding-up petition, according to the English Football League.
The club met with EFL officials and said they would be able to clear the debt, believed to be around £250,000, owed to HM Revenue and Customs.
"We were advised that a funding plan is in place to clear the petition debt and to complete their remaining nine league fixtures," an EFL statement said.
"We remain in regular dialogue with the club and, as the competition organiser, the EFL will continue to offer whatever practical assistance is available to us as the club continues to navigate itself away from their current position.
"The issue of the ownership of the club is not a matter for the EFL, as long as our regulations are met and any sale of the club is a matter for its shareholders, at this stage."
President Francesco Becchetti said last month he would consider selling Orient, but it is understood a number of potential offers have not been considered sufficiently financially attractive.
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Leyton Orient manager Danny Webb says the club's off-field problems are weighing on him heavily after they slipped to the bottom of League Two.
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The 34-year-old trailed 1-0 and 2-1 and despite going in level at 2-2 at the mid-session interval after two 50-plus breaks, he was not happy.
"There was lot riding on it and it took me a little longer than I anticipated to settle down.
"Even though I made a good break to go 1-1, I just never felt I had completely settled," said the world number 24.
The Londoner produced a magnificent 131 in the fifth frame and added two more to make it four in a row and leave him needing just one for victory at the York Barbican.
Northern Ireland's Swail, the world number 58, pulled one back, but Gould's fourth half-century of the match secured a quarter-final meeting with David Grace.
Gould, who had never previously been beyond the second round of the UK Championship, added: "I was pleased to come out at 2-2 after the interval. And I said to myself it was the time to step up.
"The 131 was the first frame after the interval and that gave me the impetus to carry on.
"I got in to a rhythm and a stride and when I get I am quite hard to stop. It was important for me to stamp my authority on the match."
Leeds potter Grace, who is ranked 81 in the world, beat former world champion Peter Ebdon in the fourth round.
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Martin Gould said he felt the pressure in the early stages of his 6-3 last-16 UK Championship win over Joe Swail.
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Mr Flynn reportedly discussed sanctions with a Russian official in the weeks before Mr Trump took office.
He denied talking about this issue but later said he could not be certain.
Any discussion of sanctions could have violated laws against private citizens engaging in foreign policy.
Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump's top policy adviser, declined to say when asked in a number of interviews whether Mr Trump backed Mr Flynn.
Mr Miller said it was not his place to comment on the "sensitive matter" concerning Mr Flynn, who was an early supporter of Mr Trump but whose position in the administration is thought to be under scrutiny.
Mr Flynn spoke with Russia's ambassador, Sergei Kislyak, by phone in December.
Both Mr Flynn and US Vice-President Mike Pence denied that the two men discussed US sanctions imposed over Russia's actions in Ukraine and alleged hacking of the US Democratic Party.
But nine current and former officials later told the Washington Post that the issue had been discussed.
A spokesman subsequently told reporters that Mr Flynn "couldn't be certain" he had not discussed the sanctions.
Mr Trump, who spent the weekend at his club in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, has not commented on the controversy. Mr Flynn is understood to have also been at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend.
Mr Trump is said to be troubled by the situation and uncertain as to whether he will ask Mr Flynn to step down, the AP reported, citing administration officials.
Several other White House officials, as well as Mr Miller, declined over the weekend to comment on the situation.
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A top White House official declined in several interviews over the weekend to defend national security adviser Michael Flynn, amid controversy over his alleged contacts with Russia.
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The government and private operators run TV and radio stations and outlets from American Samoa are readily available.
By June 2015, there were nearly 27,000 internet users (InternetLiveStats.com). Internet cafes are widely used.
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Press freedom is "generally respected", according to US-based Freedom House.
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Walter Powley suffered serious burns following a fall at the Western Park View home in Hinckley Road, Leicester, in May 2012.
An investigation into his death found the radiator pipes and valves at the home were not covered.
It also found the owner was aware that Mr Powley was at risk of falls.
During a hearing at Leicester Crown Court, Western Park Leicester, based in Queen Street, Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty to safety breaches.
The firm was also ordered to pay £35,000 in costs.
In a statement, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said Mr Powley had been admitted to the home four days before being injured.
It said he fell in his room and suffered serious burns to his right leg from the radiator pipe and valves, and superficial burns to both legs.
He died in hospital eight days later.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Dr Richenda Dixon said: "This was a foreseeable and preventable fatal incident.
"The scalding or burning risks from the pipes were long-standing and could have caused injury to any resident," he said.
In a statement on behalf of Mr Powley's family, his son Colin said: "We are still devastated, not only by our dad's death, but also how it came about.
"The fact that he died from injuries sustained as a result of, in our view, inadequate care in a place where he was supposedly safer than at home, is heart-breaking."
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A care home has been fined £100,000 after an 85-year-old resident died after becoming trapped between a wardrobe and a radiator.
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Craig Douglas and Dylan Rigby, who are both from Essex, are charged with promoting a lottery and advertising unlawful gambling.
Mr Douglas makes gaming videos on YouTube under the pseudonym Nepenthez.
He is also charged with inviting children to gamble.
The two men appeared at Birmingham Magistrates' Court. The case has been adjourned until 14 October.
The Gambling Commission, which brought the prosecution, has been looking into the rise of video game gambling.
It is warning parents that children can be drawn into betting with so-called skins - virtual goods such as weapons or clothes that are a feature of many popular games.
It has been estimated that the global market in betting on video games is worth as much as £4bn.
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Two men have appeared in court charged with offences under the Gambling Act in what is believed to be the first prosecution involving betting on video games.
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The Welsh Corner - Y Gornel Gymraeg - offers a one-stop shop for anyone searching for Welsh content on Parliament.co.uk.
The section, under the Get Involved heading, includes details of the Welsh Affairs select committee's work, which is now available in Welsh.
Services and publications can also be accessed there.
David Clark, head of outreach and engagement for UK Parliament, said: ""Having all our Welsh services in one place is a fantastic opportunity for the UK Parliament to further engage with and reach out to the growing Welsh language community.
"Investing in services, such as our Welsh language enquiry service, is a priority for us and demonstrates our commitment to outreach across the UK."
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All the UK Parliament's online Welsh-language services have been brought together in one place on its website.
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Ex-Bayern Munich player Dante has helped Nice climb to the summit at the midway point of the season.
They are two points clear of nearest rivals Monaco and five ahead of champions Paris St-Germain.
"Anything can happen. We need to concentrate 100%. We have a chance," said Dante in an interview with BBC World Service's World Football.
Lucien Favre's side have lost just one of their first 19 league games and entertain struggling Metz on Sunday.
"When I wake up I only think to win every game because this season we can make some big dreams come true," added Dante, who joined Nice from Wolfsburg in August.
Former Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli has scored eight goals in nine league games for Nice since joining from Liverpool in August.
Dante said: "Mario is world class. He is so important here and a very good guy.
"Everybody says he is bad boy. Maybe in the last group he made some mistakes but I speak to him and he only wants to play football now."
Listen to World Football's full interview with Dante.
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Nice can "make dreams come true" by winning Ligue 1 for the first time since 1959, defender Dante says.
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Romelu Lukaku has joined Manchester United for £75m, Arsenal have snapped up France forward Alexandre Lacazette for a club-record £46.5m, while Everton have already topped the £100m mark for money spent.
But how much are those stars on the move really worth? And what fees will others linked with big-money transfers command?
The CIES Football Observatory has calculated the value of the world's top players using variables such as performance, international status, contract, age and position.
Test your transfer acumen with our quiz and find out who is worth what this transfer window according to CIES.
No cheating - you can check out the entire CIES Football Observatory list here.
This content will not work on your device, please check Javascript and cookies are enabled or update your browser
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We're less than a fortnight into the summer transfer window, but Europe's top clubs are already flexing their financial muscle.
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The proposal formed part of a public consultation by Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) into a shake-up of health services in the county.
The plans have been criticised by opponents as "perverse logic".
CCG chief officer Tim Goodson said all the responses to the consultation would be considered.
Read more on this and other stories from across the south of England
The consultation took into account 18,500 questionnaires, 2,000 people at drop-in sessions, 1,000 people interviewed over the phone and some paid focus groups.
The most contentious element - to create a single special care baby unit (SCBU) covering the whole county for premature babies - was rejected by two-thirds of people.
More than 25,000 people have already signed petitions against the closure of Kingfisher children's ward at Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester.
Another proposal to offer planned care from a single hospital and emergency care at another was supported by half the respondents but people were split over whether the A&E should be at Bournemouth or at Poole.
Councillor Alan Gordon of Crossways parish, near Dorchester, said: "This is part of a long succession of financial cuts to the health service and it's about time these cuts were reversed. This is perverse logic and what we should be thinking about is funding the health service properly."
CCG chief officer Tim Goodson said: "We want to consider all the responses we've had and the strength of feeling by members of the public, not just on the paediatrics and SCBU issue but some of the community issues and around the acute care stuff."
A final decision on the proposals will be made later this year.
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Plans to cut children's hospital services in Dorchester and create a premature baby unit in east Dorset have been met with strong opposition.
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The economy added 242,000 jobs in February, better than the expected 190,000, but earnings growth slowed.
The Dow Jones finished up 62.87 points at 17,006.77 while the broader S&P 500 put on 6.59 points closing the day at 1,999.99.
The Nasdaq index rose 9.60 points to 4,717.02.
Although the key non-farm payrolls grew, average hourly wages fell by 0.1% after a strong 0.5% increase in January.
The surprise fall seems to indicate that U.S. inflation remains muted, according to analysts.
Policymakers at the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, will be keeping a close eye on inflation to inform their decision as to when to raise interest rates.
"The wage number might be the silver lining, if you will, against a more hawkish Fed over the next few months," said Mohannad Aama, managing director of Beam Capital Management LLC in New York.
"Because the Fed has been really focused on inflation."
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(Close): Stocks on Wall Street rose to their highest levels since early January on Friday, following better than expected US jobs figures.
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The economy grew at an annualised pace of 2.1% in the fourth quarter of the year, the Commerce Department said, up from an earlier estimate of 1.9%.
But the data had little impact on shares, with the Dow Jones up 20.23 points, or 0.1%, at 20,679.55.
The S&P 500 edged up 2.17 points to 2,363.30 while the Nasdaq added 5.63 points to 5,903.18.
The biggest faller in the Nasdaq was sportswear maker Lululemon Athletica, which plunged by nearly a quarter after it warned that sales were likely to fall.
The company said it expected same-store sales to fall in the first quarter of the year, the first decline since 2009.
Shares in ConocoPhillips jumped nearly 6% after the energy company announced it was selling oil sands and western Canadian natural gas assets to Cenovus Energy for 17.7 billion Canadian dollars ($13.3bn; £10.6bn).
ConocoPhillips is not the first oil major to scale back its operations in the region, with both Royal Dutch Shell and Marathon Oil also having sold oil sands assets.
The high costs of extraction have made it hard for companies to make profits with oil prices remaining low.
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US stocks remained unmoved in early trade, despite an upward revision to the growth rate at the end of 2016.
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By the end of the day, the Dow Jones index fell 59.44 points or 0.29% to 20,591.86, while the S&P 500 was down 8.85 points or 0.38% at 2,344.93.
The tech-focused Nasdaq index dropped 30.61 points or 0.52% to 5,836.16.
Financial stocks did particularly badly ahead of results from Wells Fargo, Citigroup and JPMorgan on Thursday.
The S&P 500 financials index slipped 0.9%, with Wells and Citi losing 1.92% and 0.88% respectively. JP Morgan gained 0.33%.
Shares in United Airlines continued to tumble as boss Oscar Munoz said he would not step down over the forcible removal of a passenger from a flight.
The stock ended 1.10% lower after losing 1% yesterday.
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Wall Street shares closed lower on Wednesday amid continuing concern at geopolitical tensions over Syria and North Korea.
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Just 82.9% of patients at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow were dealt within four hours.
This was an improvement on the previous week's figure of 77.2%, a record low for the £842m 'super' hospital, which opened in April.
Across Scotland the average figure was 93.5% dealt within four hours.
The government target is for 95% to be seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.
In the week ending 11 October, the hospital, formerly known as the South Glasgow University Hospital, saw 1,704 accident and emergency patients and 291 fell outside the four-hour target.
Twenty patients were not dealt with within eight hours.
In June, the Scottish government announced that a team of experts would be sent in to help staff improve A&E waiting times at the site.
Performance rose markedly as a result, with the hospital hitting a rate of more than 90% from the end of July until the end of September.
Hospital director Anne Harkness said the figures were "particularly disappointing" and she was "fully committed" to putting in place a number of immediate steps to improve the situation.
A statement from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: "As we confirmed last week, a number of immediate steps to improve unscheduled care performance have been put in place.
"The figures published today for the week ending October 11 show a 6% improvement in performance compared to the previous week, however our own management data shows that there has been a further improvement in our performance which will be reported in next week's national statistics.
"We are working hard with our clinical and management teams on the ground to see us return to a consistent improvement in performance."
Other A&E units which were well below the government's four-hour target included Forth Valley Royal Hospital (87.8%) and Wishaw General (85%), which also had 57 people waiting more than eight hours and 13 in excess of 12 hours.
Health Secretary Shona Robison highlighted funding of £10.7m for health boards during winter, as well as £100m to tackle delayed discharge.
She said: "We are continuing to work closely with health boards as they prepare for winter. This includes issuing winter guidance to health boards almost two months earlier than last year, to ensure they build in optimum levels of resilience capacity in preparation for winter.
"We want to see long-term, sustainable change put in place in order to maintain the improvement in performance on last year, both during peaks and troughs of demand and working towards achieving what are rightly demanding targets."
The government's record on emergency waiting times was criticised by Liberal Democrat health spokesman Jim Hume.
He said: "It is worrying that this key A&E target continues to be missed, despite repeated assurances and announcements from the Scottish government and the best efforts of hard-working NHS staff."
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Accident and Emergency waiting times at Scotland's newest hospital improved last week but were still below all other casualty units, new figures show.
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Instead of giving consent to cookies on every website they visit, users would be able to set general preferences.
The European Commission said the plans, which would also remove banners for non-intrusive cookies, would help to tackle an "overload" of such requests.
But experts warned the plans could harm advert-funded media, as well as platforms such as Facebook and Google.
Cookies are small files that download on to a user's device and enable tracking, sometimes to power advertising.
Since 2012, EU rules have required websites to tell users what cookies are being placed on their machine.
Typically, this meant a pop-up window seeking consent.
European Commission vice-president, Andrus Ansip, said it was now proposing simpler rules, "so that internet users do not have to click on a banner every time they visit a website".
"This way, people will be more in control of their settings," he said.
Under the plans, websites could read the cookie preferences set in users' browsers.
Also, banners would be scrapped for cookies that do not invade users' privacy, such as those remembering shopping cart history or counting website hits.
Last year, many internet companies called for the EU to scrap the so-called "cookie law", introduced in 2012.
However, the latest proposals could end up damaging online services and frustrate web users, according to a senior executive at a trade body that represents many of the world's biggest internet firms.
"The banners are certainly annoying. The question is whether they come up with something that's better or worse," said James Waterworth, vice-president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association.
He warned the proposals could harm a range of companies, from Facebook through to newspapers, if many users opted against allowing all but the least intrusive cookies.
"If this is done wrong and it's much harder to obtain permission, then it could have a serious impact on ad-funded services," he told the BBC.
Under the proposals, users could set a preference in their browser for the level of cookies to which they consent.
But they might also need to do this in every app and on every device they log in to, advertising companies have warned.
"People who thought cookie banners were annoying, will be disappointed to hear that things won't get better," said Townsend Feehan, chief executive of Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe.
The commission's proposals on privacy rules for electronic communications cover a range of areas, including:
The European Commission hopes to introduce the changes by May 2018, although experts warned that would be a tight timeline.
It comes less than a year after the EU introduced the Privacy Shield, which also set rules for tech companies on data protection and privacy.
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Plans to cut down on the "annoying" cookie banners that web users face have been released by the European Union.
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The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BPA), the group behind the clock, said the standing still is "not good news".
The minute hand on the Doomsday Clock is a metaphor for how vulnerable the world is to catastrophe.
"It remains the closest it has been over the past 20 years," said Rachel Bronson, BPA's executive director.
In addition to nuclear arms and climate change, the group also cited growing cyber threats and an uptick in terrorist attacks in their decision to keep clock unchanged.
Lawrence Krauss, chairman of the BPA's Board of Sponsors said that the Iran nuclear agreement and the Paris climate accord were good news, but said it remained unclear if the Paris agreement would actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
He also noted increased tensions between the US and Russia as a sore point.
Last year, the scientists moved the clock up from five-minutes-to-midnight, noting the threat of climate change, the modernisation of nuclear weapons as well as large nuclear arsenals.
At the time, they said the threats were "extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity".
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded at the University of Chicago in 1945 by a group of scientists who helped develop the first atomic weapons. Their metaphorical clock was created two years later.
Today, the group includes physicists and environmental scientists from around the world, who decide whether to adjust the clock in consultation with the group's Board of Sponsors - which includes 17 Nobel laureates.
The closest the clock has come to midnight was in 1953, when it was moved to two minutes from the apocalyptic midnight, following hydrogen bomb tests by the US and Russia.
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The so-called Doomsday Clock will remain set at three-minutes-to-midnight amid global perils such as climate change and nuclear proliferation.
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Algerian TV broadcast footage of Mr Bouteflika's meeting with the prime minister and head of the armed forces a day earlier in the French capital.
He was seen in a black dressing gown, talking, drinking from a coffee cup, and eating a pastry.
Mr Bouteflika's absence has fuelled speculation about his condition.
In the footage broadcast on Wednesday, the 76-year-old leader was seen during a meeting at the National Residence of Invalids, a complex built for war veterans that includes a hospital.
Mr Bouteflika was taken there after being treated in Val de Grace military hospital.
He looked frail, talking and smiling occasionally and moving his right hand.
Algerian state media said he talked with Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and Chief of Staff Ahmed Gaid Salah for two hours, covering the draft budget and other government business that needed to be approved by the cabinet.
Mr Bouteflika gave "detailed instructions" over the supply of goods ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, which begins in July, APS news agency reported.
It also issued a health bulletin saying that the president had suffered a transient ischaemic attack on 27 April that had "not affected his vital functions".
It said doctors had "recommended that he observe a period of convalescence and functional rehabilitation to consolidate his recovery".
Mr Bouteflika has been in power since 1999. His latest health problems are widely seen to have ended his chances of running for another term in presidential elections next year.
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Images of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika have been shown for the first time since he went to Paris to be treated for a mini-stroke in April.
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In September, the average homeowner - excluding first-time buyers - spent 17.7% of his or her monthly income on mortgage repayments, the CML said.
Eight years ago, when interest rates were much higher, they spent 23.7% of their income on repayments.
The CML said the figures represented a historic low, and should help more people to buy their own home.
First-time buyers are spending 17.8% of their income servicing their mortgages, compared with 24.7% in November 2007, a recent high.
The proportion of household income being spent on repayments would have been even higher in the 1970s and 80s, when interest rates were as high as 17% a year, the CML said.
The improvement in affordability follows the Bank of England's decision to cut base rates to 0.25% in August, which resulted in many lenders cutting mortgage rates further.
Two-year fixed rates are now available for as little as 0.99%.
"Mortgage affordability reached an historic low in September, for both first-time buyers and home movers, which partly reflects the re-pricing of mortgages following August's base rate cut," said Paul Smee, the director general of the CML.
"This should help turn strong appetite for home-ownership into a reality as we approach the closing months of the year."
The days of the ultra-cheap mortgage could be numbered.
Banks and building societies are keen for us to celebrate the fact that loans for homes have never been more affordable.
But Donald Trump's victory may mark a turning point for the lowest fixed rate offers.
The price of fixed rates depends on the deals which lenders can negotiate in the City, called swap rates.
And swap rates - which were already creeping up - have leapt since Trump's triumph.
It's part of a dramatic shift in expectations about interest rates, if the President-elect delivers on his promise to double the growth rate of the US economy.
People are predicting much higher US rates in the long run, with a knock-on effect across the world.
Mortgage experts here are talking about increases of around 0.25% in five- and 10-year fixed rates over the next few days, with more rises to follow.
However, rising house prices mean the total value of loans has risen dramatically over the last few years.
Separate figures from the Office for National Statistics, released on Tuesday, said the average UK house price rose by 7.7% in the year to September, unchanged from the previous month.
Where can I afford to live?
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Mortgages are now more affordable than they have ever been, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
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Four years ago, Professor Anthony King criticised the BBC at a UK level for ignoring political developments in Wales and Scotland.
But in a Royal Television Society Wales lecture he said there had been "an enormous change" in how the BBC now reported on devolved nations.
However, he said more could be done to compare policies across the UK.
Delivering his speech at the RTS Wales annual lecture, Prof King said he believed that while mistakes still happen - it was much less common.
"I think there has been enormous change," he said.
"I live in the east of England, I look out for the failure of the BBC to mention what is going on in Wales, what's going on in Scotland and to give the impression that everything that affects England affects everybody else in the UK.
"They make many fewer mistakes than they used to."
His comments are in stark contrast to a review he carried out for the BBC Trust in 2008.
In that report, the professor of government at Essex University, stated that the BBC was "not reporting the new UK with the range, clarity and richness that might reasonably be expected".
Speaking in Cardiff on Thursday evening, he said the task now at hand for the BBC was to show more clearly just how devolution impacted on everyday policies across the UK.
"If the NHS is run differently in Wales than the way it is run in England, I want to know why it is run differently, how it is run differently, and what difference that makes to the people of Wales," he said.
"I think it is still the case that the English don't quite take on board the reality of devolution.
"They know about it as a concept, but they don't really know what its meaning is on the ground, and they don't know that things are going on very differently in different parts of the country, with very different outcomes."
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The BBC's coverage of Welsh devolution has significantly improved on UK-wide programmes, says a leading academic.
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But the 31-year-old was disappointed with his time of 51.90 seconds ahead of the British Championships in Birmingham on 3-5 July.
Williams is continuing his comeback from a four-month ban for failing a drugs test in July 2014.
"I didn't expect to run so slow today... but with a few tweaks I should run a bit quicker next week," he said.
"I'm expecting to run under 50 seconds but it's no good me talking about it, but I've trained hard and I can only do what I can do."
Williams is bidding for a place in the Great Britain team for August's World Championships in Beijing.
But he would have to finish in the top two in the British Championships to be selected and also needs to meet the qualifying time of 49.50sec at an event before Beijing.
Williams only returned to competitive action in May after his ban, which he served after UK Anti-Doping found that he and fellow Welshman Gareth Warburton had inadvertently taken a contaminated food supplement.
Elsewhere at the Cardiff Athletics Stadium, 17-year-old Hannah Brier claimed her first senior women's 100m title in a wind-assisted 11.40sec - just outside the national record of 11.39 sec and all-comers record of 11.27sec.
"I just wanted to concentrate on my start as I've been chasing times a lot and that's not very good," Brier said.
"I'd forgotten that I had to concentrate on my start and I was really happy with that - 11.40 was up there with some of the fastest times I've run this season."
Brier, who added the 200m title on Sunday in 23.62sec, now hopes to be selected for the World Youth Championships, which begin in Colombia on 15 July.
"I've run the qualifying standards quite comfortably, so it's just whether the selection panel now think I'm worthy enough of going out there," she added.
Sam Gordon took the men's 100m title in 10.36sec, with defending champion Dewi Hammond having to withdraw after picking up an injury when winning his heat.
Navid Childs won the triple jump with 14.68m, while Sian Swanson retained her women's triple jump title with 11.06m.
Olly Sheppard was the 3000m champion in 10min 47.52sec, with Vicki Cronin running a personal best of 11.56.23 in the women's event.
Brett Morse successfully defended his discus title with a throw of 58.69m, as did Awen Rosser in the women's event with 39.54m.
There was also success for Cardiff-based pole vaulter Holly Bradshaw, returning to action after 16 months out injured, whose 4.50m led the field and also achieved the mark necessary to qualify for the World Championships.
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Rhys Williams successfully defended his 400m hurdles title at the Welsh Championships in Cardiff on Saturday.
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Solomon Dacres beat Marin Mindoljevic at York Hall in London after the aggregate score was tied at 5-5.
Lionhearts trailed 3-2 from the first leg in Paris.
Will Cawley won the second-leg opener and victories followed for Calum French and Andras Vadasz before the French fought back to force the decider.
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The British Lionhearts won a dramatic tie-breaker to defeat France Fighting Roosters and reach the World Series Boxing semi-finals.
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The positions are in its claims department and represent around one third of its local workforce.
A statement said: "Today we have briefed employees in our Belfast office on changes to our claims function.
"We will be closing our claims function in Belfast by the end of April 2015."
Aviva said the work will move to locations in England.
"These changes have not been taken lightly, and we will work closely with those affected to provide as much support as possible," they added.
"Other Aviva teams based in Belfast are not impacted."
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The insurance group Aviva is to axe around 30 jobs at its office in Belfast, a company spokesman has told the BBC.
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Chilton, 24, drove for two seasons in F1 with Marussia before losing his seat in 2015 after the team was re-branded as Manor Marussia.
He competed in Le Mans 24 Hours in 2015 and last season raced in America's Indy Lights series, winning once.
Chilton said: "In the last three years I haven't had a car that can get a podium. This year I have no excuses."
New Zealander Scott Dixon won last year's IndyCar drivers' championship with Chip Ganassi.
Chilton, who will drive a Chevrolet, will become the fourth British driver in the last 24 years, after Nigel Mansell, Mark Blundell and Justin Wilson, to join IndyCar full-time after competing in F1 in the same capacity.
Wilson died at the age of 37 after being struck by flying debris and suffering a serious head injury in an IndyCar race in Pennsylvania last August.
Chilton made 35 starts in F1 across the 2013 and 2014 seasons and set a new driver's record of 25 consecutive finishes, with 19 of them coming in his first season.
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Former British Formula 1 driver Max Chilton will join Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2016 IndyCar season.
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The ruling by a US district judge is the latest twist in a long-running legal battle going back to 2013.
Costco, which is to appeal against the decision, argues that "Tiffany" is now a generic term for the rings.
But it has now been told it must call them "Tiffany-style" instead.
The dispute centres on the sale of solitaire-style rings, comprising a diamond mounted on a single band with six prongs.
Costco, which had sold 2,500 of them, put them on display with the label "Tiffany", although they were not in fact made by the jeweller.
An earlier court ruling in October 2016 ordered Costco to pay $5.5m in compensatory damages and $8.25m in punitive damages.
But in a further court decision on Monday, the compensation was increased to $11.1m, while the amount of punitive damages still stands.
Kate Swaine, a partner at law firm Gowling WLG, said: "This damages award may seem excessive given that only 2,500 products were sold, but if it can be argued that an infringement is blatant and where it relates to such a well-known brand, the claimant is entitled to seek punitive damages.
"Brand owners will welcome this decision as an indication of the risk that third parties run in trying to make associations with famous brands."
The cheapest engagement ring on Tiffany's US website currently costs $12,000 (£9,300) while customers can buy one from Costco's website for only $380 (£295).
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US wholesaler Costco is facing a $19.4m (£15m) bill for damages after jewellery chain Tiffany sued it for infringing its trademark by selling "Tiffany" engagement rings.
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The chairman of the House intelligence committee, Devin Nunes, told reporters that Paul Manafort had voluntarily offered to speak to the panel.
Mr Nunes also contradicted Mr Trump's claim that Barack Obama had wiretapped him before the US elections.
"There was no wiretapping at Trump Tower, that didn't happen," he said.
However, Mr Nunes said he was concerned that the names of members of Mr Trump's transition team were "unmasked" during the surveillance of foreign individuals.
Earlier this week, AP news agency reported that Mr Manafort had worked for a Russian billionaire to assist Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Manafort has insisted that he never worked for Russian interests.
He had worked as Mr Trump's unpaid campaign chairman from March until August last year.
He resigned after AP revealed that he had co-ordinated a secret Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine's ruling pro-Russian political party until 2014.
The Trump administration has denied any collusion with Moscow, while Russia has always denied attempting to influence the US presidential election.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mr Nunes said that he had invited FBI director James Comey and National Security Agency (NSA) chief Adm Mike Rogers to provide further testimony at a closed intelligence committee session.
On Monday, Mr Comey told an open hearing that the FBI was investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, and said he saw no evidence that Mr Trump had been wiretapped by the Obama administration.
Mr Nunes said there were questions that Mr Comey and Adm Rogers "could not answer in a public setting", so he was asking them to return for a closed session.
However, Democrats have criticised Mr Nunes after he delayed a planned open hearing with ex Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA director John Brennan, and ex deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.
The top Democrat on the committee, Adam Schiff, said that was an attempt to "choke off" information to the public.
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US President Donald Trump's ex-campaign chief has agreed to be interviewed by a panel investigating alleged links between the Trump team and Russia.
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The 23-year-old, who can also play in defence, made 56 league appearances for the Spireites.
He has signed too late to feature in Saturday's home game against Walsall.
Boss Kenny Jackett told the club website: "We have brought in a bright and energetic young player. He has a very good left-foot and adds versatility to our squad."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.
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Portsmouth have signed Chesterfield midfielder Dion Donohue for an undisclosed fee on a two-year deal.
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An increase led to 1% of benefits being unpaid during the year, Department for Work and Pensions figures reveal.
A year ago, a committee of MPs told the government that delayed benefits meant families were going hungry.
The government said it was providing more help to claimants to provide accurate information.
Nearly 65% of underpaid benefits - the equivalent to about £1bn a year - was the result of inaccurate information from claimants, it said.
People on Employment and Support Allowance - a benefit for those who are unable to work owing to illness or disability - were underpaid the most, with underpayments totalling £350m during the year.
The most common cause was the result of errors by claimants in recording the amount of income that they received - particularly in other benefits.
"We are committed to ensuring people receive the benefits they are entitled to. Our frontline staff discuss all the support that is available with claimants and we work closely with charities and other organisation to keep people informed of their entitlements," said a spokesman for the DWP.
"We have extensive guidance on Gov.uk and advisers available over the phone and in person to help people through the claiming process. We are also simplifying the system with the introduction of Universal Credit."
But David Samson, the welfare benefits project manager at the Turn2us charity, said that this support was not always easy to get.
"People are finding it harder and harder to access face-to-face help with completing these forms, which is why this problem goes unnoticed. This is a particular concern for people living with a mental health problem or who have learning difficulty who may need the extra support when completing them.
"Many find the forms complicated and lengthy and assessing your average income level can be especially tricky.
"We have seen a huge increase in people using our benefits calculator to work out how their income could impact on their entitlements."
The latest figures showed the biggest rise in benefit underpayments was in Pension Credit, a top-up to the state pension for low-income pensioners.
With this benefit, the DWP admitted that the biggest cause was official error.
A year ago, the work and pensions select committee said that, while many parts of the welfare system worked well, underpayments needed a higher priority.
Benefit problems "often led claimants to face difficult decisions over whether to pay their rent or provide essentials such as food, gas and electricity for their household", it concluded, with many becoming reliant on food banks as a result of underpaid benefits.
Overpayments of benefits totalled £3.3bn, the equivalent of 1.9% of benefit payments, the DWP figures show.
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A total of £1.7bn in benefits was not paid to those entitled to the money in 2015-16 owing to fraud and error, a new record rate of underpayment.
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Sands Cymru, Drugaid Cymru and Dash, are launching an initiative on Wednesday to tackle the problem.
Sands Cymru chief executive Ifor Glyn said: "This is not a problem that's going to go away anytime soon."
Public Health Wales has previously noted a "substantial escalation" in use since 2010.
Sands said the blanket ban on legal highs, also known as new psychoactive substances (NPS) proposed by the Westminster government was not going to halt the spread.
Concerns about the substances include people not knowing what they contain, a lack of understanding about their effects and how strong they are.
Thaker Hafid, a father-of-three from Cardiff, died in February after taking a legal high that was five times stronger than heroin.
The project, being launched in Neath, Neath Port Talbot, will offer briefings across Wales with the aim of reaching more than 8,000 people by Christmas.
Public Health Wales has also warned about a potentially dangerous legal high currently in circulation.
A man was taken to hospital in north Wales on 15 June after taking MMB-CHMINACA (MDMD-CHMICA) which has been associated with six deaths across Europe since September 2014.
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A campaign to tackle the use of so-called legal highs is beginning following concerns about increased use.
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The 27-year-old moved to Plainmoor in February and the club's current five-game unbeaten run has coincided with the five games that Racchi has started.
"He's got a great attitude, he wants to win, he wants everything badly because he's not been playing regularly for a few years," Nicholson told BBC Devon.
"He feels like he's got a point to prove and a career to save."
Racchi was released by National League North side Tamworth in December, having begun the season at Halifax.
Torquay are still three points from safety with a game on hand after a 0-0 draw with high-flying Braintree on Tuesday.
"He's been solid since he came here," added player-manager Nicholson, who has not featured in a league game since the Gulls' recent good form began.
"He's got a calming influence on the ball, that was one reason why I felt the time was right for me to come out of the team because I always like to see that as part of what I bring.
"Well Danny does that from the middle of the pitch now, so I can have dynamic full-backs now in the two that we've got and it's made a real difference."
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Torquay United midfielder Danny Racchi is "playing to save his career", says Gulls manager Kevin Nicholson.
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The first minister's spokesman said "differences remain". The two leaders agreed to hold further talks.
The meeting came after Labour AMs voted against a Plaid Cymru assembly motion to support "full membership" of the EU's single market.
Labour had sided with UKIP and the Tories in the vote on Wednesday night.
Plaid said the move by Labour amounted to support for a so-called "hard Brexit".
But Mr Jones said he had consistently called for the UK to retain "access" to the market since the referendum result.
The two parties are already involved in discussions over the budget, powers for the assembly and legislation - part of a deal allowing Labour to regain power after May's election.
But there have been angry exchanges between their parties since Wales voted to Leave, with Plaid accusing the first minister of changing his position on what should happen next.
The single market is Europe's tariff-free trading area.
Mr Jones and Ms Wood campaigned side-by-side for a Remain vote in June's referendum.
The first minister's spokesman said: "Differences remain between the two leaders and their respective parties, but both have agreed to discuss further the challenges Wales faces."
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Carwyn Jones met Leanne Wood to discuss Brexit on Thursday, after their parties clashed over the Welsh Government's response to the EU referendum.
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Voges has missed more than two months with a calf injury while Robson has recovered from a hamstring problem.
However, fellow batsman Nick Gubbins will not return from a hamstring problem until early September.
Bowler James Fuller, who has not played since May, will miss the rest of the 2017 season following elbow surgery.
The 27-year-old, who featured for England Lions last winter, last appeared for his county in the One-Day Cup defeat by Kent in May.
Ryan Higgins' shoulder injury picked up while fielding against Glamorgan on Friday will rule him out for three weeks.
Paul Stirling, whose calf problem has restricted him to T20 cricket, is set to be available for the Championship match at The Oval, as reigning champions Middlesex look to move clear of the two relegation places in Division One.
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Adam Voges and Sam Robson have both been declared fit for Middlesex's County Championship match with Surrey, which starts on 28 August.
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The win took Warriors 12 points clear of bottom club Bristol, who will be relegated back to the Championship if they lose to leaders Wasps on Sunday.
Bath led 10-6 at half-time, helped by winger Matt Banahan's try.
But Josh Adams and Wynand Olivier both crossed for the hosts and ex-Bath lock Will Spencer completed victory.
George Ford kicked a late penalty to earn fifth-placed Bath a losing bonus point, but with two games left to play they are four points behind Leicester, who hammered Newcastle at Welford Road.
Warriors were good value for their fifth home league win of the season, with their excellent record at Sixways likely to be enough to keep them in the top flight.
Bath had appeared set for their first Premiership away win since 30 October when, against the run of play, Jonathan Joseph fed Banahan for the only try of the first period.
However, two penalties from Ryan Mills - the second a huge kick from well inside his own half - kept the hosts in touch at the halfway point.
England's Ben Te'o and fellow centre Jackson Willison superbly created Adams' try and replacement Olivier put Worcester in front for the first time, before Spencer rounded off a long spell of Worcester pressure by touching down against his old club.
Worcester director of rugby Gary Gold: "Bristol have got two home games out of three left, so under no circumstances am I going to sit here and say we are safe. They beat Bath at home and ran Exeter close at Sandy Park.
"If we are able to get through this fight, then I will definitely look to chat to the club to see what the plans are for next season.
"I am elated and very proud of the guys. They stuck in for the full 80 minutes against a quality Bath team."
Bath director of rugby Todd Blackadder: "It is so disappointing. We are up and down, up and down.
"Our (defensive) exits were really poor. We just gifted the ball back to Worcester, who played really well, and in the second half, unforced errors killed us.
"We knew what was at stake today, which makes it even more disappointing, but we are not going to give up hope. There is still too much to play for and a lot can happen."
Worcester: Pennell; Humphreys, Willison, Te'o, Adams; Mills, Hougaard; Bower, Taufete'e, Alo, O'Callaghan (capt), Spencer, Vui, Lewis, Mama.
Replacements: Singleton, Grant, Milasinovich, Potgieter, Fa'osiliva, Baldwin, Lamb, Olivier.
Bath: Watson; Rokoduguni, Joseph, Tapuai, Banahan; Ford (co-capt), Fotuali'i; Catt, Batty, Palma-Newport, Ewels, Stooke, Ellis, Louw (co-capt), Faletau.
Replacements: Charles, Obano, Knight, Denton, Z Mercer, Cook, Priestland, T Homer.
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter.
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Worcester Warriors defeated Bath at Sixways to almost guarantee their Premiership survival and dent the visitors' hopes of a top-four finish.
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The news continued the club's dismal week after Tuesday's confirmation that their 12-point Premiership deduction would remain following a failed appeal.
A day later, Portadown conceded two late goals to lose 4-3 against Crusaders in the League Cup.
"I believe the time is right to step away - I've done all I can to move the club forward," said McGibbon.
After serving an interim boss following long-serving Ronnie McFall's resignation in early March, former Manchester United defender McGibbon was appointed manager in late April.
However, six weeks later Portadown were handed a 12-point deduction for this season's Premiership after an Irish FA disciplinary committee ruled that they had paid player Peter McMahon even though he had been registered on amateur forms.
Portadown were already facing a transfer embargo in addition to being fined £5,000 because of a further registration breach involving Gary Twigg.
The Shamrock Park club were handed a total ban from all football related activity in late July for a failure to pay the £5,000 fine and their first scheduled league game of the season against Coleraine on 6 August was postponed.
Portadown appealed against both penalties but their pleas were rejected by an Irish FA appeal panel last Tuesday.
"As a former player both at youth team and first team level, I am devastated to see the current state of the club," added McGibbon.
"Recent events have had a demoralising effect on players, management and supporters alike.
"Despite player restrictions and ongoing administrative issues, I have been working hard with Vinny, the players and the rest of the management staff to improve fortunes on the pitch.
"However, I have found that my roles and responsibilities have been taken up more as a general manager than from a first team management perspective.
"Vinny and the rest of the backroom team have been terrific in helping with training whilst I have prioritised and dealt with other issues."
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Crisis club Portadown are looking for a new manager after Pat McGibbon resigned on Friday evening.
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The 24-year-old former Denmark Under-20 international has made seven appearances since joining the Potters from FC Midtjylland in 2015.
This season he has been behind Lee Grant and Shay Given in the Potters' pecking order and only played twice in the EFL Trophy.
Haugaard will provide extra cover following Adam Bogdan's knee injury.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page or visit our Premier League tracker here.
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Wigan Athletic have signed Stoke City goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard on loan for the rest of the season.
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An average 8.1 million people tuned in to watch the TV talent search as it was broadcast, compared with an average 4.5 million who watched The Voice.
Viewing peaked at 9.6 million on ITV as 13-year-old Beau Dermott wowed the judges with her singing.
Some 6.1 million saw Kevin Simm crowned the winner of the BBC's singing show.
Despite winning the ratings battle on Saturday, the Britain's Got Talent opener received the lowest viewing figures of any launch show since its very first episode in 2007 when 4.9 million people tuned in.
Last year 10.1 million watched the launch, down from a high of 11.1 million in 2014.
Saturday's episode saw Dermott secure a standing ovation and the first Golden Buzzer from the judges - which gives her an automatic place in the live shows - following her rendition of Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked.
After a slight fall in viewership for the following acts, audiences peaked again as 9.5 million watched Moldovan Alexandr Magala's sword swallowing act.
The judges and crowd screamed and covered their eyes as the 26-year-old slid upside-down a pole with the sword lodged in his mouth, coming to a stop an inch above the ground.
"I actually thought you were going to die," Simon Cowell admitted after the act was put through to the next round of the competition.
According to overnight figures, around 40% of all TV audiences were watching Britain's Got Talent between 19:00 BST and 20:20 BST.
When the programme finished, two million viewers switched over to The Voice for its final 40 minutes and to see the winner announced.
Simm, who was previously in the pop group Liberty X, beat runner-up Jolan to be crowned the last winner of the singing contest on BBC One before the show moves to ITV.
Although audience figures for the latest series of The Voice had started strongly with an average 7.9 million viewers, ratings steadily declined in past weeks with 4.5 million tuning into the semi-final last week.
The finale drew its lowest ever ratings, down from 6.3 million viewers who tuned in to watch it last year, and 6.6 million in 2014.
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The return of Britain's Got Talent was a ratings winner for ITV, scoring almost double the viewers as the final of The Voice on BBC One.
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Waitrose said like-for-like sales rose 2.8% in the five weeks to 3 January, compared with last year.
House of Fraser, which has 59 shops across the UK and Ireland, said like-for-like sales jumped 8% for the six weeks to 3 January, versus last year.
Sales in the week before Christmas were the 165-year old firm's best ever.
Both retailers' saw a sharp increase in online sales compared to last year, with Waitrose reporting a 26.3% rise in online grocery sales, and House of Fraser seeing a 31.2% jump.
Waitrose, which has 334 shops, is owned by John Lewis, which reported strong festive trading figures on Monday.
"As a business owned by the people who work here, we can take the long-term view and our Christmas results show the effectiveness of our strategy of investing in good value, in making our shops attractive destinations and in building our online business," said managing director Mark Price.
House of Fraser's chief executive John King said he was "delighted" with the chain's Christmas trading period.
The firm said it planned to continue to invest in its online offering this year, as well as refurbishing more stores.
"Given this further investment, we believe that we are well placed to continue to grow in 2015," added Mr King.
Last year, the privately held firm sold a majority stake in its business to Chinese conglomerate Sanpower, giving it an 89% share in the company.
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Upmarket supermarket chain Waitrose and department store chain House of Fraser have both reported strong sales over the key Christmas trading period.
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21 October 2016 Last updated at 19:29 BST
The EU was "not capable" of signing a trade agreement with Canada she said after the collapse of talks on a wide-ranging deal.
Negotiations have dragged on for seven years, but in the end a Belgian region - population 3.6 million - blocked an accord which stands to affect hundreds of millions of people.
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Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland was choking back tears as reporters cornered her in Brussels.
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The Under-20 boss replaces Gareth Southgate, who will look after the senior team for their next four matches after the departure of Sam Allardyce.
A point in Kazakhstan on 6 October will be enough for the Under-21s to secure a spot in next year's finals in Poland.
Their final group match is at home to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Boothroyd's assistant coach Paul Williams will take charge of the Under-20s on an interim basis.
Boothroyd has coached the England Under-20 side since 2014.
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Former Watford and Coventry manager Aidy Boothroyd will take charge of the England Under-21 team for their final two Euro 2017 qualifiers.
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Concerns about plagiarism in a 2013 law module should have triggered a formal process, says the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
Instead academics reduced students' marks for "poor academic performance".
The university says this was more appropriate as the problem was poor referencing rather than plagiarism.
The QAA review found that academics at the university initially raised concerns about some five essays, or 10% of the number submitted, which had the fault of "quoting directly from a source and failing to insert quotation marks around the quoted passages".
The university later referred to these sections as having been "lifted".
However, the university's own inquiry found that the students, then at the start of their first year, had not yet been subject to rigorous training on avoiding plagiarism and had not committed any deliberate action to deceive.
So instead of moving to its formal plagiarism procedure it "determined upon a mark reduction for over-reliance on 'one or two articles' and a subsequent interview with the students to explain", says the review.
The university told the QAA team that having first entertained the possibility that the students in question had plagiarised, it then discounted the possibility.
"It did not judge it to be plagiarism as defined in the university's regulations."
It was "deemed not sufficiently serious in nature for it to be recorded on the students' records".
However, the watchdog concludes that the reference to the students' lack of training and the view that it was not done to deceive appear to be mitigations of plagiarism rather than rejections of the possibility of plagiarised work.
"The evidence appears to show that the level of 'suspicion' involved in the work in question met the criteria that should have triggered formal procedure."
The review finds that the university had substituted its investigation and imposition of penalties for due process, "and thus was in breach of university regulations on academic misconduct".
Any reforms to the university's regulations should avoid allowing course teams to make decisions in isolation which would risk "a less consistent approach to its management of academic misconduct", recommends the review.
In a statement, the university said it took the matter of academic misconduct "extremely seriously".
"In noting the review team's various recommendations, we welcome the conclusion that our procedures for academic misconduct are fit for purpose and conform to the expectations of the UK Quality Code; and that we are taking positive steps to educate and help our students to avoid plagiarism.
"The university has completed a full review of its procedures, and will shortly be submitting an action plan to QAA detailing how we are addressing the recommendations."
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The University of Buckingham breached its own regulations in an investigation into possible plagiarism, an independent inquiry has found.
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As well as outlawing driving while under the influence of illegal drugs, new legislation will include some prescription medicines.
But prescribed doses do not exceed the limits for legal drugs, so most patients should still be safe to drive.
Those who are unsure are advised to seek the advice of a pharmacist.
The new law, to be introduced 2 March 2015 in England and Wales, aims to catch those who put the lives of others at risk while driving under the influence of drugs.
It sets very low levels for eight well known illegal drugs, including cannabis and cocaine, but also includes eight prescription drugs, where the levels have been set much higher.
Most of them, including Temazepan and Diazepam, are used for treating conditions such as anxiety.
But the list also includes methadone, a heroin substitute and pain medication, and morphine, a powerful opiate also used for pain relief.
Robert Goodwill MP, Road Safety Minister, says as long as they stay within prescribed levels, most people will still be able to get behind the wheel of a car.
"If you are taking your medicine as directed and your driving is not impaired, then you are not breaking the law and there is no need to worry," he said.
"We advise anyone who is unsure about the effects of their medication or how the new legislation may affect them, to seek the advice of their doctor or pharmacist.
"There will also be a medical defence if a driver has been taking medication as directed and is found to be over the limit but not impaired.
"Drivers who are taking prescribed medication at high doses [are advised] to carry evidence with them, such as prescriptions slips, when driving in order to minimise any inconvenience should they be asked to take a test by the police."
Prof David Taylor, a spokesman for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and a member of the Department for Transport advisory panel on drug-driving said "Don't stop taking your medicines, prescribed or otherwise, if you are worried about this new law.
"Instead, talk to your doctor or pharmacist for information about how your medicines might affect your ability to drive.
"They'll be happy to give you the advice you need to stay safe."
Ed Morrow, campaigns officer for road safety charity Brake said the organisation strongly welcomed the new drug-diving law.
"This much-needed progressive move by government will make it much easier for police to deal with illegal drug-drivers," he said.
"We are confident that the necessary measures are in place to ensure drivers who take prescription medication are not unfairly penalised.
"However, many prescription medications can have a negative effect on your ability to drive safely, and there is a worrying lack of awareness of this among the public."
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People who have been prescribed powerful anxiety or pain relief drugs are being warned about a new drug-driving law.
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Aldershot nearly led before the break when Rhys Browne set up Lafayette but Marek Rodak saved and Charlie Walker failed to score on the rebound.
The visitors kept pressuring as Jake Gallagher and Jim Stevenson forced Rodak into further saves.
Victory for the Shots was sealed when Rodak brought down Lafayette and he scored from the spot on 76 minutes.
Aldershot Town boss Barry Smith told BBC Surrey:
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"You know it was a very scrappy game and Welling gave us a lot of problems in the first-half.
"I thought at half time we upped our levels and we caused them problems in the second half and I think we deserved to win the game.
"I've got confidence in the strikers and confidence in players who can score and it was a matter of time. Their keeper made some terrific saves, but you've got to keep believing like we've done this season."
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Ross Lafayette scored a second-half penalty to seal all three points for Aldershot Town as they beat Welling.
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Other highlights include a stage version of Hancock's Half Hour and the Berliner Ensemble's Waiting for Godot.
The annual event in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, is now in its fourth year.
It boasts performances in multiple locations, including the school where Beckett was a pupil in the early 1920s.
The lights will be turned out for All That Fall, in a staging by former Royal Court artistic director Max Stafford-Clark.
He said: "I was asked for my vision for the play and my response was that there is absolutely no vision at all - the whole play takes place in the dark."
The drama, co-produced with the Out of Joint Theatre Company, will star Irish actress Rosaleen Linehan.
"It will be as dark as we can make it, the audience won't be invited to see anything," Stafford-Clark told the BBC. "It will be a bit spooky I imagine but that's the effect that Beckett wanted."
All That Fall was previously staged in London in 2012 with a cast including Dame Eileen Atkins and Michael Gambon.
The radio play, first broadcast in 1957, tells of an elderly woman's journey to a railway station to meet her blind husband.
The Hancock play is based on several "lost" radio scripts - by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson - which were revived on Radio 4 last year.
"Hancock is the perfect Beckett character. He is the small man shaking his fist as a universe that doesn't care," said Drop The Dead Donkey star Neil Pearson, who will direct the show.
"I think we are habitually rather too po-faced about Beckett. He's a funny writer. I don't know whether he knew of Hancock but I'm pretty sure he would have approved of the uncaring way the world treats him."
Theatre director Sophie Hunter - who recently married Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch - is putting on Benjamin Britten's Phaedra - the composer's final work - inside the ruined Necarne Castle.
She said her concept was to create "an intimate experience in an epic space".
"At the heart of it is the story of a woman who has taken in poison and is dying over 15 minutes - the music mimics the effect of the poison that is coursing through her veins."
The Enniskillen International Beckett Festival, Happy Days, will take place over two long weekends, between 23 July and 3 August 2015.
The full line-up is on the Happy Days website.
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A play performed in complete darkness is among this year's line up for a summer festival celebrating writer Samuel Beckett.
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Tuilagi missed the 19-18 Premiership win at Gloucester with a "hamstring tweak" just a fortnight after returning from a long-term groin injury.
He is unlikely to return until Tigers' trip to Newcastle on 12 February.
"Results normally polarise decision making," Cockerill said.
"It depends on how England go up at Murrayfield against Scotland next weekend really. They might not need him.
"If they don't get the result up there, then they might want him back sooner, rather than later."
Tuilagi was just three games into his comeback after 15 months out of the game - but new England head coach Eddie Jones is keen to bring back the 24-year-old, who has not played Test rugby since June 2014.
"He probably won't play next week [the Tigers' Premiership game against Sale] and will probably come into it for Newcastle the week after," Cockerill told BBC Radio Leicester.
"If he is playing and back fit, then it is up to Eddie. Manu's groin is great. Now it is a case of keeping the rest of his body intact as well.
"Fifteen months out of the game is a long time. We are trying to manage that and integrate him back in as sensibly as possible.
"His hamstring was a bit tight after the Stade Francais game last weekend. He had it scanned on Monday and there was the tiniest of strains there. It is nothing serious."
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Leicester Tigers boss Richard Cockerill says that England centre Manu Tuilagi's latest injury is "nothing serious" - and that he could still figure in this year's Six Nations.
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Wenger, 67, has been criticised by some fans after Arsenal slipped to sixth in the Premier League following four defeats in their past five games.
A 10-2 aggregate loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League added to the pressure and Wenger says he will make a decision on his future "very soon".
"He's a great man in my opinion," said Iwobi, 20. "I'd like him to stay."
Wenger's contract expires at the end of the season but he has been offered a new two-year deal.
"He's always helped me and developed me as player," Iwobi told the BBC's World Football programme.
"I don't think it's fair the way everybody criticises him. It's very unfair considering what he's done.
"He's always achieved fourth place, been in the Champions League and been up there with the title contenders."
Contract negotiations with two of Arsenal's star names, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, have been put on hold until the summer, and Iwobi hopes an agreement can be reached over their futures.
"As you can see from stats, goals and chances they create they are key players in our team," he said.
"Everything offensively almost goes through them. Even though we have other players they are world-class players.
"For the club it'd be great for them to stay, but at the end of the day it's their decisions."
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Arsenal forward Alex Iwobi wants Arsene Wenger to remain as manager and says criticism of the Frenchman is "unfair".
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Leading Seaman Timothy Andrew MacColl, 27, from Gosport in Hampshire, was last seen getting into a taxi at 02:00 local time on Sunday after a night out.
The ship had arrived in Dubai on Saturday and left on Thursday.
The family of the father-of-two, who is originally from Killin, Stirlingshire, said they were "completely at a loss and going crazy with worry".
Leading Seaman MacColl, known as Timmy to family and friends, was last seen by a shipmate getting into a taxi alone.
He had just left the Rock Bottom Cafe at the Regent Palace Hotel, in the Bur Dubai area, which is about a 15-minute drive from Port Rashid where his ship was docked.
His wife Rachel, who is expecting the couple's third child in October, said there had been no sightings of her husband and that checks with hospitals, prisons, police stations and mortuaries had so far found no record of him.
"I last spoke with Timmy at midday on Saturday and he was in really good spirits and looking forward to speaking with the children on Skype on Sunday," she said.
That call never happened, she said, adding that it was "completely out of character" for him not to contact his family.
"We are appealing to the people of Dubai and reaching out to the large expat community to help us find Timmy and raise awareness in that area," she said.
"Wherever Timmy is, I know that he wants to be found, he will want us to find him, we need people to help us do that."
The couple's two children are aged six and four.
Leading Seaman MacColl is described as white, 5ft 8ins tall, of medium build, with short brown hair cropped with a flicked fringe, and speaks with a broad Scottish accent.
At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing a red MotoGP T-shirt, dark-coloured long shorts and white trainers.
A spokesman for the Royal Navy said the service was working with local authorities and British Foreign Office staff to try to find the missing sailor, and providing support to his family, he said.
"Everything is being done to ensure that he is located safely," the navy spokesman said.
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A British sailor has gone missing in Dubai while his ship, HMS Westminster, was docked, the Royal Navy has said.
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The Grade-I listed landmark, which has been owned by the council since 2010, needs "essential" strengthening work to be carried out on its steel structure.
A council report says a continuing £6m steel renovation project has cost extra money, but the loan will be recouped from the income of leisure assets.
Councillors will consider the proposal on 20 July.
Deputy leader of Blackpool Council Gillian Campbell said the tower was "a vital asset to town" which the council was "committed to keep in a good condition".
"Our acquisition of the tower was all about making sure it is looked after for many years to come and this work will make sure that continues to be the case," she added.
The seafront tower opened in 1894 and its design is inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
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Councillors in Blackpool are to be asked to approve borrowing of £1.8m to repair the resort's tower.
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The 20-year-old won bronze in the 3m springboard final in Kazan.
It was his second medal of the week after bronze in the 3m synchronised springboard with Chris Mears.
Laugher, who scored 528.9, led after the second of six rounds but was overtaken by defending champion He Chao of China (555.05) and Russia's Olympic gold medallist Ilya Zakharov (547.6).
Laugher said: "It was brilliant and one of the most fun finals I've been in in my life because everyone was pushing each other to new levels.
"Today just gives me more confidence. I'm still young, the guys who have beaten me are much older than I am so hopefully I'll become a better diver and competitor."
Tom Daley is the only other Briton to win an individual world diving medal - claiming gold at the age of 15 at Rome 2009.
Laugher's success was British third diving medal in the Russia event, with Daley and Rebecca Gallantree combining to secure team gold on Wednesday.
Leeds-based Laugher, a two-time Commonwealth champion, has had a good season, also winning the overall World Series title following three impressive victories.
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Jack Laugher has become only the second British diver to ever win an individual World Championships medal.
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The drugs, worth an estimated £831,000, were found in a factory near Bridgend's main custody suite in November.
Christopher Bennett, 61, of Port Talbot, Dale Hart, 53, of Pencoed, and Michael Smart, 37, of Pencoed were bailed until 29 April.
They will appear at Cardiff Crown Court.
Mr Smart also faces a second charge of possessing cocaine.
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Three men appeared in court jointly charged with producing 692 cannabis plants - yards from South Wales Police's headquarters.
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The My Dentist practice in Dolgellau will close on 31 March and the town's other practice is private.
A spokesman for the NHS practice said it had been unable to recruit a permanent dentist in the last two years
The deputy mayor of Dolgellau, Delwyn Evans, told BBC Radio Cymru's Post Cyntaf programme more needed to be done to get dentists into rural areas.
My Dentist clinical director Steve Williams said: "There is a shortage of dentists in parts of rural Wales where long-term unfilled vacancies persist over a significant period of time.
"We have tried unsuccessfully to recruit a dentist for the last two years and, regretfully, can no longer provide services at the Mervinian House Family Dental Practice."
A spokesman for Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board said it intended to re-commission dental services in the area as soon as possible.
"However, there is likely to be a gap between the date of termination of the existing services and the completion of the tender exercise and the re-establishment of new services," he said.
"We are therefore making arrangements for the provision of dental services on a cover basis until a permanent solution can be put in place.
"This will include exploring options for short-term support from the other nearest practices, as well as a dental out-of-hours clinic to operate from Dolgellau Community Hospital for patients requiring urgent unscheduled care."
A Welsh Government spokesman said: "When a dentist decides to reduce or end their NHS commitment, the associated funding remains with the health board to re-commission the service.
"Betsi Cadwaladr UHB has invited applications from dental contractors to help ensure there are NHS services available in the area.
"We expect the health board to continue to review and improve access to NHS primary care dental services through the targets set within its 2016-17 Operational Plan."
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Nearly 4,500 patients will lose their only NHS dentist in a Gwynedd town from the end of the month.
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Earlier this year we asked where the centre spots of various cities around England were - these being the points distances on road signs are measured to.
Google identifies the centre spot of Newcastle as being in a cafeteria in the King George VI building at Newcastle University, while the city council believed it might be Grey's Monument.
Philip James, a senior lecturer in geographical information science (GIS) at the university, has been doing some investigating, and the answer is fairly simple - it depends who you ask.
"Different providers give different answers depending upon what method they are using," said Mr James, who specialises in mapping people's use of places through their online activity, such as where they tweet from.
Facebook marks the centre point as being near Exhibition Park in the Town Moor, Michelin next to the Haymarket Metro station and the Ordnance Survey places it close to the Manors Metro station.
Twitter marks it as being on Nuns Moor in the north-west of the city while Open StreetMap places the centre point near Kenton in the north of Newcastle.
Why such a division of opinion?
"The Newcastle administrative area is not a simple shape so determining the centre is not easy," said Mr James.
"One method is to draw a boundary box around it then use the centre of that rectangle as your centre point.
"Of course that will give you a different centre to the methods others might use."
One answer that is probably as good as any other is to take the mean of all these various sources and see where that leads, which is what Mr James did.
This approach shows the centre point as being outside the front of the Civic Centre.
But if you ask people where they think it should be, which we did, they invariably gave the same answer as the council - Grey's Monument at the top of Grainger Street.
Comments varied from "it's the biggest thing and can be seen from anywhere" to "it's where the shops are".
And even Mr James said he would consider that the centre in any meaningful way.
"It's the point most people know and where they arrange to meet," he said.
Ultimately, does knowing the centre point even matter?
"I don't think it causes us any real issues in a practical sense," Mr James said.
"Most people will know where they are going, either from knowledge of the area or by searching for actual addresses, I can't really see any scenarios where knowing the absolute centre of Newcastle is very important. It's just an interesting question though.
"A lot of arbitrary decisions will have been made in the past, probably for good reasons at the time, and they will simply still be used today to determine things like distances for road signs and city centre spots."
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An academic at Newcastle University has been taking a closer look at a question we posed a short while ago - where exactly is the centre point of Newcastle?
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Mucky Boots Nature Kindergarten will be based at Kirkton of Maryculter woods.
It will have space for 15 children between the ages of three and five.
Manager Dawn Ewan told the BBC Scotland website there were many benefits and explained: "It is a massive woodland and children are generally happier to be outside."
There have been outdoor nurseries across Scotland - including in Glasgow, Fife and Perthshire - for many years, but Mucky Boots is understood to be the first such venture in that part of Scotland.
The idea originated in Scandinavia several decades ago.
Mrs Ewan, a mother-of-two in her 30s, said: "My background is teaching. This outdoor nursery has been a pipedream for about 15 years and then we found this woodland.
"We have visited various ones in Scotland and were really impressed."
On the benefits of an outdoor nursery for children, she said: "We are looking to build up their confidence, and that's the feedback we've had from the pilot sessions.
"It increases their resilience, they are able to problem solve better, and it's good for emotional development and physical health too.
"Children will have freedom to explore, with a true connection to the natural world.
"They will be more ready for school."
Climbing hills and using open fires are among the type of activities at the nursery.
There will be three staff for the 15 children due to what Mrs Ewan accepted was a "higher-risk environment".
She said: "We want to do this right - it needs to be good quality."
For adverse weather situations, there is a teepee and sheltered areas, and they also have use of a Scout hut for extreme weather situations.
Mrs Ewan added: "We have only used the indoor space twice in two years.
"As the saying goes, there's no such thing as bad weather, but inappropriate clothes. That's our motto."
She said the nursery had registered with the Care Inspectorate and would work with Aberdeenshire Council.
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A fully outdoor nursery, believed to be the first in Aberdeenshire, is due to open in April after a successful two-year pilot.
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Like-for-like cycle sales fell 4% in the three months to 1 July, which chief executive Jill McDonald blamed on poor weather and the timing of Easter.
Halfords hopes that new bike ranges designed with Sir Bradley Wiggins and Laura Trott, who are both competing in the Rio Olympics, will boost demand.
In the year to March, bike sales at Halfords had fallen by 0.9%.
Halfords said that sales of premium bikes, which are priced between £500 and £5,000 and include the Pinarello model ridden by Team Sky, performed well over the first quarter. However, wet weather and the timing of Easter affected sales of mainstream models and accessories.
Overall, Halford's like-for-like sales fell 0.6%. Its retail division gained from strong demand in car maintenance and for child safety seats, but declining sales of sat navs dragged revenues at its car enhancement sector down 4.2%.
Halfords said in June that it expected the weak pound to knock £3m off its profits. Following the steep fall in sterling against the dollar since Britain voted to leave the European Union, the company said it may have further small impact in the financial year.
Commenting on Brexit, Ms McDonald said: "While the recent decision to leave the EU does create uncertainty, we are well-positioned as a business and focused on delivering sustainable long-term growth."
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Halfords is hoping for an Olympics bounce to stem a slide in bike sales, which have continued to fall.
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The international charity says nine out of 10 schools have been destroyed in the worst-affected districts.
Almost 24,000 classrooms were damaged or destroyed in the disaster that hit the country 12 days ago, it adds.
Unicef is attempting to set up temporary learning spaces for children.
Currently, all schools are closed in Nepal, although many of those still standing are being used as emergency shelters.
They are due to reopen on Friday, 15 May.
As the humanitarian and clear-up efforts continue, the charity says there is a desperate need to set up alternative learning spaces for children, not just for education but for their safety as well.
Unicef spokesman in Kathmandu Kent Page told the BBC: "We know that children need to go to school not only to learn, but schools are places of protection for children who have been through the trauma of an earthquake.
"It protects them from exploitation and abuse because everybody knows what they are doing and where they are.
"Unicef has already set up 30 child-friendly spaces in temporary camps and settlements in Kathmandu.
"These are places where in children can play and learn and sing and dance in a protected environment."
Mr Kent said he had visited children in the settlements in the past few days, and all those he had asked whether they wanted to return to school had said they did.
"They want to be in school, they want to be learning, they want to get back to normal as much as their parents do," he said.
Unicef's representative in Nepal, Tomoo Hozumi, said temporary learning places needed to be provided as soon as possible to avoid a massive school drop-out.
He said: "Almost one million children who were enrolled in school before the earthquake could now find they have no school building to return to.
"There is a desperate need to set up alternative learning spaces, assess and repair buildings, and mount a public awareness campaign encouraging families to send their children back to school and pre-school.
"Prolonged interruption to education can be devastating for children's development and future prospects," he added.
In Nepal, children aged between five and nine are given free education between 09:30 and 15:00 daily.
There has been a large increase in the number of children enrolled in school in Nepal in the past three decades.
In 1990, 64% of children attended school. This had risen to 95% of children by this year, Unicef said.
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Nearly a million children in Nepal will not be able to return to school in the wake of last month's earthquake unless urgent action is taken, says Unicef.
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About 50 weddings due to take place after 10 April at Manor Barn in Buriton have been cancelled.
Owner Bob Camping said he was "so very sorry". His other firm The Village Inn/Goosebumps Weddings Ltd is currently in receivership.
One affected couple described it as a "nightmare".
Mr Camping has vowed to sell his home and the business "and pay people back immediately".
Nicholas Pettit and Gemma Brown were due to marry at the barn in September and said they had been left "devastated" by the news.
"We are now having to come to terms with not having our wedding where we initially wanted and being £2,000 out of pocket," Mr Pettit added.
Mr Camping said other weddings due to take place before 10 April, including that of Jade Nias and Kyle Hillman, would be honoured.
But Miss Nias and Mr Hillman said they had now chosen another venue.
Mr Hillman said he had worked "countless hours of overtime" to pay the £2,000 deposit for Manor Barn, adding: "It just feels like that time has been wasted."
Claire Moulder and Jason Ledwith are due to marry at the venue in March and said uncertainty surrounding the venue had caused them "great stress, worry and sleepless nights, and is a sheer nightmare".
Manor Barn's licence is also being reviewed by East Hampshire District Council over noise complaints.
One of the proposed conditions at the venue in Buriton is for a "sound limiting device" to be installed, the council said.
Mr Camping said this would cost £500,000, which he added was unaffordable and unrealistic.
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Dozens of couples have had their weddings at a luxury Hampshire venue cancelled with the owner admitting the company is "in trouble".
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It said the scale of footpath erosion was "threatening Snowdonia's fragile nature".
The number of walkers climbing Snowdon has doubled since 2007 and more than four million people visited Snowdonia last year.
But the trust said grass species move in when pathways are eroded, strangling some plants.
Rhys Thomas, National Trust ranger for Snowdonia, said: "I've been building and rebuilding paths in the area for eight years.
"It's tiring, time-consuming and back-breaking work - involving hundreds of hours of volunteer time which requires shifting tonnes of stone by hand, vehicle and helicopter.
"But it's vital if we want to protect the delicate upland habitats that make Snowdonia a special place for wildlife."
Plants which could be at risk include purple saxifrage, moss campion and roseroot.
It is also home to the endangered Snowdon beetle - which in the UK are only found in Snowdonia.
The trust is trying to raise £250,000 to repair two-and-a-half miles of path.
It comes as concerns grow over the amount of litter being left on Snowdon, with some calling for a walker's charge to be introduced.
The appeal is supported by Hollywood actor Matthew Rhys, National Trust Wales's Snowdonia Ambassador.
Mr Rhys, who is from Cardiff, but has strong family connections to the national park, said he had seen the "trail of destruction left by the eroded paths" during visits to the area.
"There's a delicate balance to be struck between man and nature," he added.
National Trust Wales looks after almost 58,000 acres of mountain and farmland across the Snowdonia National Park.
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Snowdonia's pathways need to be preserved or plants and wildlife will be lost, National Trust Wales has said.
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Beginning in July, Oregon residents who do not identify as male or female can mark X for sex on driver's licences, learner's permits and state IDs.
The state's Transportation Commission approved the new rule, which was hailed by LGBTQ rights groups.
The shift comes a year after an Oregon judge ruled a retired Army veteran could legally identify as non-binary.
The June 2016 landmark decision allowed Jamie Shupe to change her gender to non-binary, which refers to gender identities that do not fall into the binary categories of male and female. It was believed to be the first decision of its kind in the US.
That decision prompted Oregon officials to examine how they could recognise a third gender in its computer systems and affect the state's gender laws.
The state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), which held public hearings to debate the issue, said they received little opposition to the policy change, according to the Oregonian newspaper.
"I very much plan to head to the nearest DMV and ask for that ID to be corrected on July 3rd," Jamie Shupe said after Thursday's decision.
"And then I'll no doubt stand out front of the building, or sit in the car and cry."
About 20,000 Oregonians identify as transgender, according to The Williams Institute at the University of California-Los Angeles.
Oregon is the only US state to allow an unspecified gender, but other countries including Germany, India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand also allow a third gender option.
The Canadian province of Ontario also implemented the X option earlier this year.
California is also considering a similar policy change. The state senate in May passed a bill to add a third gender option to official state documents, including birth certificates, sending the measure to the state assembly.
Commissioner Sean O'Hollaren told the Oregonian the decision was the "right thing to do".
"I hope those who will use X as an identifier will feel an element of comfort moving forward," he said. "It's something we're not only doing because legally our hand is forced. It's something we should do because it's the right thing to do."
Gender identity has become a major flashpoint across the US in places like North Carolina, which passed a bill forcing students to use toilets according to the sex listed on their birth certificates.
The state passed a bill easing some of those restrictions in March, but Texas is considering a similar measure.
US President Donald Trump in February also rescinded his predecessor's guidance to US public schools that allowed transgender students to use toilets matching their gender identity.
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Oregon has become the first US state to include a third gender option on state-issued identification cards.
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Family and friends of a young couple had hired the boat for an engagement party and were sailing north of Cairo hit was hit, according to eyewitnesses.
An Interior Ministry statement said 15 bodies had been found and six people were still missing.
The captain of the cargo boat has been arrested. Five people were rescued, but at least two children died.
It is not clear if the couple thought to be celebrating their engagement were among the dead, said AFP news agency.
Traffic had been heavy along the Nile, where many Egyptians had been celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
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At least 15 people have been killed in a crash between a cargo vessel and a passenger boat on Egypt's River Nile.
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Rio the red kite was found near Leitrim, County Down, with an infection in her foot.
It meant the bird could not flex her talons, which affected her ability to feed.
She became weak and unable to fly.
She was reintroduced to the wild after being treated by a vet.
Rio was one of 80 red kites introduced to Northern Ireland and has raised five chicks.
She is important to the programme because she has bred consistently since her release.
The red kite has been under pressure in south Down since its reintroduction in the years between 2008 and 2010.
Three birds have been shot, a further 12 have been poisoned and 12 more have been found dead with no clear cause.
There are just 12 breeding pairs, well short of the 50 pairs experts say are required for a sustainable population.
Claire Barnett is a senior conservation officer with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
She said they have tried hard to get the message across that the birds do not pose a threat to livestock - especially lambs.
"The bird actually has small, weak feet so there's no way they're going to be able to pick up anything bigger than a small rabbit.
"Their main diet is made up is things like mice and worms and rats and road kill," Ms Barnett said.
There is some good news though - the breeding pairs have produced 71 chicks and RSPB staff said there is evidence that the birds have begun to spread out.
They are asking the public to send them details of any sightings.
Red kites are quite distinctive. They have a five and a half foot wingspan and a deeply forked tail.
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A key member of a breeding programme, designed to reintroduce an impressive bird of prey in Northern Ireland, has been returned to the wild after being found injured in a field.
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Damien Reeves broke the deadlock by finishing via the crossbar from James Lawrie's cross before Josh Ginnelley doubled the lead after a 50-yard run.
Jake Moult ended the game as a contest, converting a penalty after the lively Lawrie was fouled by Omar Beckles.
And Jordan Sinnott completed the Shots' miserable afternoon, scoring after good work from Ginnelly.
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Aldershot Town boss Barry Smith told BBC Surrey: "We didn't defend properly and their front four caused us so many problems.
"It was down to us not defending properly for the first goal. It comes from a centre-back not being dominate and we couldn't get a grip in the game.
"We lost battles all over the park today. Once you cross that white line it is down to the players to make sure they are doing the jobs that they've been asked."
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Altrincham moved out of the National League relegation zone with an impressive victory over Aldershot.
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It will cover a 14.7km (nine-mile) stretch of the A6 from Randalstown in County Antrim and Castledawson in County Londonderry, either side of the Toome bypass.
Upgrading the stretches of road to dual carriageways is expected to cost £160m.
Infrastructure Minister Chris Hazzard said the work would "strengthen the links between Belfast and Derry".
He added that it would help to address an "infrastructure deficit" west of the River Bann.
The route will replace the existing road from Castledawson to the M22 motorway to Belfast, which sees lengthy tailbacks during peak hours on a daily basis.
"Road users and the local community will directly benefit from this new all-purpose dual carriageway as it will reduce journey times and improve road safety," he added.
"I am determined to contribute towards economy growth in a regionally-balanced way, and I believe it is vital that infrastructure projects such as this are prioritised."
On occasions during the morning rush-hour on the current route, traffic grinds to a complete standstill, resulting in traffic jams stretching for miles.
The scenario is reversed during evening rush-hour as commuters return to the north-west from the direction of the M22 motorway.
Earlier this year, Northern Ireland's roads authority said the proposed route would affect about 120 landowners.
The Department for Infrastructure said ground investigation work has begun and archaeological investigations along the route will start this week.
Construction is expected to begin in October.
Mr Hazzard added the project was "welcome news" for the construction industry.
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Four years of roadworks are to begin on the main road between Belfast and Londonderry road this autumn.
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Bethan Rhys Roberts hosts Ask the Leader on BBC One Wales at 19:00 BST on Thursday.
Leanne Wood was the outsider who broke the Plaid Cymru mould when she won the party's leadership election in 2012 to succeed Ieuan Wyn Jones.
She is Plaid's first female leader, the first to be a non-fluent Welsh speaker and the first from outside the party's heartlands in north and west Wales.
Quite simply, she embodies the kind of person Plaid needs to win over if it is ever to become Wales' largest party.
Born and raised in the Rhondda Valleys - where she still lives - her political awakening came during the miners' strikes of the 1980s.
But, unlike many of her peers, Ms Wood turned to Plaid Cymru rather than Labour.
The former probation officer and lecturer in social work was hired as a researcher by MEP Jill Evans.
In 2003, Ms Wood realised her own political ambitions as she entered the Welsh Assembly as a regional AM for South Wales Central.
Nine years later, the staunch republican - considered to be on the left of her party - was elected leader after promoting her economic vision for an independent Wales.
Ms Wood says her focus as Plaid leader has always been on May's Welsh Assembly election, but the 2015 general election debates put her in the spotlight.
Previous Plaid leaders could only dream of the media coverage she enjoyed, but a high public profile did not translate to any increase in seats at Westminster.
Party officials and members say the public like Leanne Wood and respond to her on the doorstep.
But questions remain as to whether they want her to lead the country.
Friday 15 April - Welsh Labour leader Carwyn Jones in Llangollen
Monday 11 April - Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies in Swansea
Tuesday 12 April - UKIP Wales leader Nathan Gill in Swansea
Wednesday 13 April - Welsh Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams in Aberystwyth
Ask the Leader can be seen on BBC One Wales at 19:00 BST each day and on the BBC iPlayer.
You can also follow the programmes on Twitter - @walespolitics
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Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood faces questions from an audience in Aberystwyth in the fourth of a daily series of live TV election specials.
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28 January 2015 Last updated at 07:43 GMT
But apart from sounding impressive - the train in this clip has a really important job.
It's used to clear away old 'ballast', the rocks and stone that support the train tracks, and replace it with new stuff.
It's travelling overnight between Norwich and London at the moment to make sure the train line is in good shape. You can see it in action above.
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At half a mile long, it's Britain's longest ever train - and can be found travelling through the night with a small army of workers onboard.
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The uncapped duo will start Saturday's Six Nations match at Twickenham.
"They don't lack for enthusiasm and they are both incredibly excited about the stage they're going to be playing on," said the Ireland head coach.
Schmidt said it was a "tight decision" whether to name McCloskey or his Ulster team-mate Luke Marshall at centre.
Both have impressed at provincial level this season, forming a dynamic midfield partnership for Les Kiss' side.
"Luke has been robust and had a really good season, but Stu spent last week training at 12 with us and we felt he might be a little bit more comfortable in there," said Schmidt.
"He has some important elements in his game which we want to get the most out of and it's a great opportunity for him to express himself.
"It's also a responsibility to make sure that we are as watertight as we can be in what will be a tough area to defend.
"The bottom line is we have confidence in Stu and Robbie (Henshaw) in there."
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Schmidt is also excited by the prospect of Leinster flanker Josh van der Flier making his debut, with Connacht's second row Ultan Dillane also expected to earn his first cap off the bench.
"We are all excited by something new," said Schmidt.
"Josh has an opportunity to go and really capture that seven jersey in what will be a really tough test for him.
"This is a step up that they haven't been to before and you never know how quick it's going to be, how physical it's going to be.
"That's always a challenge for players coming in for the first time and these guys have been rewarded with the opportunity."
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Ireland coach Joe Schmidt says he has gone with "form and balance" in picking debutants Stuart McCloskey and Josh van der Flier to play against England.
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19 November 2013 Last updated at 14:24 GMT
Engineers have used a tunnelling machine called Phyllis to dig through 6.8km (4.2m) of earth from Royal Oak in west London to Farringdon on the edge of the City.
BBC London's Chris Rogers took a look around the tunnel and spoke to the project manager of Western Tunnels, Andrew Alder.
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Crossrail has completed its first train tunnel 18 months after work began.
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Anglesey council's contract for 17 toilets ends in 2017 and they face being scrapped due to budget cuts.
A letter has been sent to councils to see if there is interest in taking them over from 1 April.
Councillor John Roberts said: "We don't want to reach a situation where we'll have to close toilets and sincerely hope that we can find a solution."
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Public toilets on Anglesey are being offered to town and community councils in a bid to stop them being closed.
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29 June 2016 Last updated at 02:24 BST
Well, the BBC has been around the region looking for people who are living the dream, and fulfilling their career ambitions.
This week, we find out how Australian actor Eamon Flack landed his dream job as artistic director of Sydney's Belvoir theatre company.
Produced by the BBC's Katie Beck. All stills by Brett Boardman.
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Most of us work to make money - and if it happens to be by doing something we love, we're considered lucky.
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Scientists using Europe's Cryosat radar spacecraft are now routinely mapping variations in height on a fine scale, both in time and in area.
The UK-led team's analysis shows that Greenland is shedding ice to the ocean.
Their preliminary assessment is very close to that produced from gravity satellites, which currently see losses of over 250bn tonnes of ice each year.
But while the headline numbers may be similar, Cryosat brings important additional detail to the picture.
It allows the team to study changes across the entire ice sheet at fine resolution, meaning the scientists are able to monitor the behaviour of individual glaciers.
Cryosat is also helping them to track seasonal variations in the elevation of the ice sheet, which will permit the researchers to investigate how the ice sheet changes from year to year.
"These results allow us to identify key glaciers which, in the last few years, are showing signs of rapid change," said Dr Malcolm McMillan from the NERC Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) at Leeds University.
The new study updates a previous assessment by the Alfred Wegener Institute, and complements existing measurements made by the US space agency's GRACE gravity satellites. These are spacecraft that can essentially "weigh" the ice sheet from orbit.
Dr McMillan and colleagues are presenting their work this week in San Francisco at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, the largest annual gathering of Earth scientists.
Researchers have previously used space- and plane-borne laser altimeters to produce the kind of maps now coming from Cryosat.
But their data was often very sparse, making it difficult to achieve a comprehensive and up-to-date picture.
The earlier radar missions, too, struggled to get to grips with Greenland.
In part, this was because their measurement footprints were too large to really see even the biggest glaciers, but also because they were sometimes frustrated by surface conditions.
"Radar altimeters bounce their signals off a horizon that is below the top of the snow, where the ice becomes compacted," explained Leeds co-worker Prof Andy Shepherd.
"But if there is a big melt, as we saw in the middle of Greenland in 2012, the snowpack conditions change and this scattering horizon is re-set, making it appear as if the ice sheet has gained one to two metres in height.
"With these new results, we have been able to correct for this, and that allows us to confidently map changes in elevation."
The CPOM study means Cryosat has now produced a "report card" on all three of the polar ice domains it was tasked by the European Space Agency to investigate.
A similar assessment has been done for Antarctica, and the spacecraft is also now consistently monitoring the thickness of Arctic sea-ice, its primary mission goal.
In addition, as a secondary objective, the Esa spacecraft's radar has managed to make the most precise map of the shape of the global ocean floor.
[email protected] and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
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It is one of the clearest views we have yet had of the recent changes occurring across Greenland's ice sheet.
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Hampshire can still qualify for the quarter-finals if results go their way in Wednesday's last group games.
Bailey struck an unbeaten 145 against Surrey on Sunday but in a losing cause.
"I don't think we've played a great game of one-day cricket yet, but we're breaking some records and the tide should turn at some stage," he said.
Bailey and Kyle Abbott (56) set a Hampshire List A record partnership for the eighth wicket of 152 against any county in the defeat by Surrey.
The game before, James Vince hit a county record 178 against Glamorgan, also in a losing cause.
If Hampshire beat Sussex at home and Surrey lose to Gloucestershire, they could finish in the top three of the South Group.
"I'm not sure we deserve to qualify," Bailey admitted to BBC Radio Solent. "But, that's the nature of the South Group where everyone seems to beat everyone.
"If we don't make it, we'll rue games like the one against Glamorgan (who chased 333 with a ball to spare).
"But if we play well against Sussex, you never know."
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Hampshire captain George Bailey is unsure if his side deserve to qualify for the knockout stages of the One-Day Cup after inconsistent results.
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The report was commissioned after passenger concerns over the vessel.
Naval architects Houlder found it "well suited to operating in the English Channel", but "teething problems are expected with any new vessel".
It also suggested changes to improve the ride, the handling and berthing performance of the ferry.
The States of Jersey and Guernsey have welcomed the report's findings.
Houlder was commissioned to carry out an investigation by Condor Ferries and the States of Guernsey and Jersey.
It followed concerns raised by passengers about the vessel, which started serving the Channel Islands to Poole route in March.
Report's conclusions
Report's recommendations
Problems in its first two weeks led to the company issuing a public apology in April and further issues, including with its loading ramp, led to the review in May.
Captain Fran Collins, executive director of operations for Condor Ferries, said: "Condor Liberation is a superb ship and, whilst we recognise that there are still opportunities to improve, we are delighted to have her as part of our fleet.
"This independent verification of her safety, suitability and performance is obviously very welcome.
"We accept all of the report's findings and will implement its recommendations."
Deputy Kevin Stewart, chairman of Guernsey's External Transport Group, said it was extremely pleased the report had "categorically confirmed the safety and suitability of the Condor Liberation for operation between the UK and the Channel Islands".
Senator Lyndon Farnham, Jersey's Economic Development Minister, said he hoped passengers were "reassured by the report's findings".
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A report into the safety and suitability of the Condor Liberation ferry has ruled there are "no concerns" about its stability.
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Crown said in October 18 staff had been held after a police operation believed to target its marketing activities.
Among them were three Australians, including Jason O'Connor, a senior executive in charge of attracting Chinese high-rollers.
Casino gambling, and promoting gambling abroad, are illegal in mainland China.
The cases have been referred to Shanghai's Baoshan District Court, the company said in a brief statement made to the Australian Stock Exchange.
The Australian newspaper reported that the court has set a hearing date for 26 June.
Crown Resorts, controlled by Australian billionaire James Packer, said that with the matter now before the court it would not be making further comment.
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Casino operator Crown Resorts says its employees who were detained in China last year have been formally charged with illegally promoting gambling.
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The Dons host the Premiership champions on Friday night before Scotland's top two clubs meet again in the Scottish Cup final on 27 May.
"We want to show we can beat Celtic, because we know we've got the players that can," McLean, 25, said.
"I think we are the best team to stop the unbeaten run - and stop the treble."
Aberdeen were brushed aside by Celtic in November's League Cup final and have lost all three of the sides' previous league encounters this season.
"There is a lot at stake because we want to have momentum going into the final," former St Mirren midfielder McLean said. "That's what it's all about now.
"We've not taken anything from Celtic this season and we're disappointed from that.
"We have done well, but ultimately we've not picked any points up, which is disappointing, no matter how well you do.
"Picking up points against Celtic would be a massive boost for us and it would give us confidence going into the final.
"They've been outstanding, the best team in the league by far this year, so we know it's going to be a tough task, but we've definitely got the ability in the squad to hurt Celtic."
McLean has scored five goals this season, helping Derek McInnes's side all but secure second spot in the top flight.
With three league games remaining, the nine-point advantage and significantly superior goal difference Aberdeen have over third-placed Rangers should ensure they finish as runners-up.
"At the start of the season, a lot of people didn't think it would be the case, but we were always confident with the squad and ability we had," added McLean, who has one Scotland cap.
"It's been a real togetherness this season from everybody; the relationship between the fans and players and staff has been excellent.
"We've always been confident that we can be the nearest challengers to Celtic and we've proved that again, and proved most people wrong, I would say.
"And it's just up to us to keep pushing ourselves on and keep being in that position, to keep channelling ourselves to get better."
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Kenny McLean insists Aberdeen can end Celtic's unbeaten domestic run - and derail their bid for a treble.
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The victory means the Irish will face France in Sunday's final at the World League 2 tournament.
Wales will also make the final qualifiers in Johannesburg if they beat Scotland in the third place play-off.
Gareth Furlong put Wales ahead before Shane O'Donoghue, Ben Walker and Neal Glassey netted for the Irish.
Ireland, 10th in the world rankings, were strong favourites to account for the 34th-ranked Welsh but the visitors produced a strong challenge.
Furlong's early goal from a penalty corner left Wales ahead after the opening quarter but O'Donoghue and Walker struck in quick succession in the second quarter to give the hosts a half-time lead.
Wales had a couple of chances in the third quarter - including a missed penalty corner - before Glassey sealed Ireland's win by netting early in the final quarter.
France earned a 2-0 win over the Scots in Saturday's second semi-final.
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Ireland's men guaranteed themselves a spot at the final World Cup qualifying tournament in the summer by beating Wales 3-1 at Stormont on Saturday.
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And the world of Formula 1 is no different - some drivers have consistently excelled while others have had a campaign to forget.
A record 21-race season gives us plenty to reflect on as the year draws to a close, so we want you to tell us your top three heroes and villains from the past nine months.
Hamilton in Monaco? Rosberg in Singapore? Verstappen, um, everywhere? You decide...
We've asked BBC F1 experts to give us their three best and three, well, most disappointing drivers of 2016. We will reveal their views, alongside the collective results of what you all thought, later.
Who were the best during 2016?
Who were the biggest underachievers during 2016?
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It's safe to say 2016 been a truly memorable year for a whole host of reasons - some very good, some utterly awful.
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The benchmark Nikkei 225 closed down 3% at 16,883.19 points - its worst day since March.
The US oil price fell below the symbolic threshold of $50 a barrel for the first time since April 2009.
Meanwhile in London, Brent crude fell as low as $53 a barrel.
That prompted energy shares to fall.
Concerns over Greece's future also weighed on the euro, which slid to a nine-year low against the dollar.
Chinese shares recovered earlier losses after a private survey showed the country's services sector grew at its fastest pace in three months in December.
The Shanghai Composite ended up closing flat at 3,351.45 after falling as much as 1.3% earlier in the day.
In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng index finished down 1% to 23,485.41, following the global trend.
In Australia, investors also reacted to falling oil prices and eurozone worries, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closing down 1.57% at 5,364.80 points. Earlier in the day, the index was down as much as 1.9% - one of its biggest falls in more than a month.
One company's shares saw a positive reaction to falling oil prices, however, with Qantas, Australia's national airline, seeing its share price at a four-year high during the Tuesday session.
Australia's latest trade figures showed the country's deficit widening in November from October to about 950m Australian dollars ($770m). It is the eighth trade deficit in a row.
But analysts said investors largely ignored the numbers, which were smaller than expected and due in part to falling prices for resources such as iron ore.
Tristan K'Nell, head of trading at Quay Equities, said there were a number of issues worldwide causing uncertainty in equity markets.
"Investors [are] watching closely... US interest rates, growth slowdowns in Europe and the Asia Pacific, political uncertainty in Greece, geopolitical issues between Russia and Ukraine and also the Middle East, and the volatility and crashing prices in crude oil and iron ore," he said.
In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi closed down 1.74% to 1,882.45 points, with shares in energy firms leading the declines on oil price worries.
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Japan's stocks led falls across Asia on Tuesday, posting their biggest drop in nearly 10 months, as investors worried about falling oil prices and political turmoil in Greece.
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Investors were expected to remain cautious until the Fed announces its decision on Thursday.
The Dow Jones rose 140.1 points to 16,739.95, while the S&P 500 added 17.22 points to 1,995.31. The Nasdaq was up 28.72 points at 4,889.24.
Figures released on Wednesday showed consumer prices fell 0.1% in August.
Prices were up 0.2% from a year earlier, indicating that inflationary pressures within the US economy remain weak.
Analysts think the Fed's decision is finely-balanced, as while inflation is weak, the economy is growing and the unemployment rate has fallen to 5.1%.
"You can make a strong case either way for the Fed to begin raising interest rates or waiting," Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics, told Reuters.
"The prudent risk management approach would argue for them to hold off, but if the Fed was really data dependent there is a very strong case to raise rates on Thursday."
Among individual stocks, Anheuser-Busch InBev rose 6.8% after it said it had made a takeover approach for rival brewing firm SABMiller.
FedEx shares fell 2.8% after the delivery company cut its full-year earnings forecast.
The company predicted earnings per share of $10.40-$10.90 for the year to 31 May, down from a previous forecast of $10.60-$11.10.
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(Close): US markets closed higher as the Federal Reserve begins its two-day meeting which will discuss whether to raise interest rates.
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You'd expect such a statement from a player who had played for 11 different clubs in three different countries, but how many players have done that at the age of 23?
Meet Jake Jervis, one of Plymouth Argyle's five summer signings, who is preparing for a campaign in League Two having played in Turkey, Scotland and all three tiers of the Football League.
"It's made me a better player to have played in different leagues and different places," he tells BBC Sport as he settles into the final week of pre-season at his new club.
Jervis began his career as a promising youngster at Birmingham City - he once played against Didier Drogba, David Luiz and Frank Lampard as the Championship club held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup in 2012.
After three years of trying to make the Blues first team, he left St Andrew's in January 2013 for Turkey, where he signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with top-flight side Elazigspor.
But it was a move that did not go according to plan.
Jervis said: "Teams like Fenerbahce and Galatasaray have a crazy atmosphere and it was definitely something that helped me in terms of my football.
"But after three games, having started so well, I broke my foot."
The Turkish club stopped paying Jervis, but when he tried to leave they held on to his registration and he could not join another club until January 2014, a period of six months where he was not able to play the game he loves.
"It was the most difficult thing I've had in my life," he says.
"I was at Sheffield United and I was going to sign there, and I trained with a few other teams as well, but I couldn't get it through because of international clearance due to the old club.
"I was a handful to be around with my girlfriend and my family because I wasn't happy at all not being able to play football."
It was eventually sorted out and Jervis signed a six-month deal at Portsmouth, before moving to Ross County that summer, where he linked up with current Argyle boss Derek Adams for the first time.
"He's 23 and he's only at the start of his career, but he's had a lot of experience," Adams told BBC Sport.
"We're hopeful of progressing him. He did very well for me at my last club and, although I was only there for a short space of time with him, you could see the potential."
Jervis signed a one-year deal at Plymouth in June, so is now the time to try and settle with one club?
"You always look to do that," he said.
"But it's got to be right and you've got to be able to enjoy it. Hopefully we can settle here and go on and do well."
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"The good of football, the bad of football, I've seen all of it."
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Three other members of the family are suspected to have recently died from the virus.
The cases were reported in the southern region of Nzerekore, where the outbreak began in December 2013.
The Ebola outbreak killed more than 11,300 people - mostly in Guinea and its neighbours Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The new cases were reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) hours after it declared the latest Ebola flare-up to be over in Sierra Leone.
The WHO has warned that sporadic cases of Ebola are likely to re-emerge as the virus can linger on in body fluids of some survivors.
Analysis: Tulip Mazumdar, BBC global health correspondent
This is yet another blow in the long lingering fight against Ebola. But it is not unexpected.
Guinea was in fact the only one of the three worst affected countries that hadn't had a re-emergence of the virus after the outbreak was officially declared over there on 29 December 2015.
Both Sierra Leone and Liberia have reported little clusters of new cases after declaring the outbreaks over. But they've been dealt with quickly.
A risk of new flare-ups remains because Ebola can persist in body fluids of some survivors for months after they recover.
A very small number of new cases have been linked to sexual transmission.
The world is in new territory here - scientists are still learning as the worst Ebola outbreak in history continues to unfold.
More than 17,000 Ebola survivors are dealing with a wide range of complications and social stigma.
Some scientists say there's a risk the virus may become an ever-present disease in West African society.
11,315
Deaths - probable, confirmed and suspected
(Includes one in the US and six in Mali)
4,809 Liberia
3,955 Sierra Leone
2,536 Guinea
8 Nigeria
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Two new Ebola cases have been confirmed in Guinea, almost three months after it celebrated the end of the outbreak.
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The Czech-born American took charge of an hour-long coaching session at Queen's Club in London.
Murray will play France's Nicolas Mahut in his Aegon Championships opener, but rain delays mean the match is unlikely to start before 14:00 BST.
Murray and Lendl's morning practice was cut short by the weather and more rain is forecast through the day.
Lendl arrived from the United States on Monday evening, having last week agreed a deal to resume his coaching role alongside Murray.
The pair split in March 2014 after a successful two-year period that saw Murray win his only Grand Slam titles at the US Open and Wimbledon, as well as Olympic gold.
Their practice session on Monday lasted an hour before the rain arrived, with British number seven Alex Ward providing the opposition across the net.
Lendl worked in tandem with Jamie Delgado, who joined Murray's coaching set-up earlier this year, with the former world number one directing the drills.
Mahut, ranked 51st, should provide a stern test of Murray's grass-court level when the pair meet, the Frenchman having won an ATP title on the surface in the Netherlands on Monday.
Murray, a four-time champion at Queen's Club, lost to Mahut in the second round in 2012.
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Ivan Lendl returned to coaching duties with Andy Murray for the first time in over two years on Tuesday.
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The 22-year-old returns from Scotland duty to the Hibs squad as the league-leaders entertain Morton on Wednesday.
"I know it will be a tough game, and the squad do as well," McGinn told Hibs' website.
"But we know what the reward is at the end of the season and getting three points will be huge moving forward."
McGinn was with the Scotland squad for the 1-1 friendly draw with Canada and the 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Slovenia on Sunday night.
The meant he missed Hibs' 2-1 triumph over second-placed Falkirk on Saturday that extended their advantage at the top of the Championship table to 10 points, with seven games to play.
Despite being disappointed to miss any match for the Easter Road side, McGinn was delighted to be involved with Scotland and is convinced it will benefit Hibs.
"I feel as if it is good for myself and for the club," he said. "I feel as if getting the recognition and going away with Scotland is making me a better player.
"I'm thoroughly looking forward to getting back out in a Hibs jersey now and the game against Morton.
"I didn't play a lot during my time with Scotland, so I am ready to come back in. It will be a tough tie, Morton have been very good this season, but when we're at our best we can take on anybody and hopefully we can show that on Wednesday."
McGinn, who featured as a sub in Scotland's friendly draw with Canada at Easter Road but was not used in the win over Slovenia, hopes to cement his place in Gordon Strachan's plans for the game against England in June and the remaining qualifiers.
"I was over the moon that we got a massive result (Hibs' win over Falkirk) and then it was even better when Scotland followed it up and got a result on the Sunday against Slovenia," he said.
"The ambition of everyone in the Scotland squad is to qualify for the World Cup and I am privileged to be a part of that.
"Looking further down the line it is a huge dream to play at a World Cup. That win against Slovenia keeps us in contention for a play-off spot. There are massive games to come and I hope I'm in contention for those matches and the England game in June."
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Midfielder John McGinn hopes the prospect of securing promotion will ensure Hibernian suffer no slip-ups as they chase the Championship title.
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The London-wide annual target for new units of affordable housing is 17,000, although councils set their own levels.
Only 8,550 such units were built in developments with affordability requirements in 2015-16 - down from 10,962 the previous year.
Lewisham was the only borough to meet or exceed all its targets over the past three years.
"House prices are rising six times faster than wages and rents [are] sky high," said Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter.
He said "thousands of homeless families in London right now - over 2000 in Hackney alone" were "trapped in temporary accommodation because there's nowhere they can afford to live."
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, has promised "thousands of new affordable homes to both buy and rent".
Under the London Plan, the councils' self-set affordable homes targets range from an overall target of 25% in Croydon to 50% in boroughs such as Hackney, Lewisham, Islington and Camden.
Councils met only two-thirds of their targets in the last three years, and 16 of the 21 councils that responded to the BBC's Freedom of Information request missed their targets every year.
While the number of homes built in developments with affordability requirements between 2013-16 rose, the percentage that were affordable fell from 31.3% to 23.5%.
Councils can require large housing projects with more than 10 units to provide affordable housing under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
However, they are not doing so and developers are using viability assessments to argue that to provide affordable housing would make the development non-viable, and thus exempt from housing requirements.
Instead, councils are taking payments in kind, with so-called s106 payments (money given to councils to secure planning permission) increasing from £184m to £235m between 2014 and 2016.
Greenwich alone received more than £71m in s106 payments last year - up from just under £10m in 2013-14.
Only a quarter of its new housing was affordable, against a target of 35%.
Mayor Sir Steve Bullock, London Councils' executive member for housing, said planning affordable housing "can be a complex process".
"For instance, putting pressure on developers to build higher proportions of affordable housing can result in fewer homes in total being built," he said.
"Should developers prove that affordable housing requirements will threaten the viability of an entire project due to market conditions, boroughs try to negotiate a compromise that still benefits their local communities."
One council, Harrow, did not respond to the BBC's request for data.
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London boroughs are failing to ensure developers provide affordable housing, figures obtained by the BBC show.
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36412679
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The militants targeted villages under government control, and clashed with the army and its militia allies.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said at least 15 of the dead were civilians.
The fighting is near a strategically important highway linking Hama city with the Aleppo area further north.
The SOHR said at least 27 government troops or militia were killed in the attack, on the villages of Aqareb and al-Mabujeh. Another 10 bodies had yet to be identified.
Some of the civilians killed were put to death after being captured by IS, the observatory added.
State news agency Sana also reported the attack in Aqareb, saying 20 civilians were killed there, but made no mention of al-Mabujeh.
Why is there a war in Syria?
IS was now fully in control of Aqareb, SOHR said, adding that the government had sent reinforcements to the area.
Hama province is divided three ways between government forces, rebels and IS, with the militants mainly occupying the eastern part.
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More than 50 people are reported to have been killed in heavy fighting in Syria after so-called Islamic State launched an attack in Hama province.
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39966105
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The Leeds site is home to rugby league side Leeds Rhinos, rugby union side Yorkshire Carnegie and Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
Plans include a new South Stand on the rugby ground and a new joint stand overlooking both the rugby pitch and cricket ground.
A public consultation over the proposals is due to start in February.
The capacity of the cricket ground would increase under the plans with the aim of hosting matches in the 2019 Cricket World Cup and securing future Test matches.
Plans were revealed in 2014 for a £50m revamp of the cricket ground, which currently holds about 17,000 spectators.
The new combined stand proposes about 4,200 seats for cricket and 3,800 facing the rugby pitch.
The new South Stand for the rugby stadium has a planned capacity of 7,700 with 2,200 being seated.
Gary Hetherington, Leeds Rhinos chief executive, said: "It will present a major construction challenge and inevitably cause some disruption for all teams during that period.
"Our [rugby] stadium capacity will reduce to just over 13,000 for a period during the 2017 season."
Funding is to be provided by a combination of public and private sources including Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Leeds Rhinos.
Leeds Rhinos also plan to sell sites in Weetwood and Tingley for housing development with the receipts invested in the scheme.
Consultation events are planned including a four-day exhibition at the Headingley ground.
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New proposals for the redevelopment of the Headingley Stadium have been revealed.
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35429026
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24 January 2017 Last updated at 07:07 GMT
Alice is blind and needs help getting around, so now she has a furry friend to help her out.
She is one of the youngest person in England to be given a guide dog and Billy has made a big difference to her life.
Check out the video to hear Alice and Billy's story.
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Meet Alice and her guide dog, Billy.
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Three men, two women, and a girl under 18 years of age, were arrested on Thursday evening after police carried out a planned search of a house in Castletown, Navan, County Meath.
It followed a report alleging false imprisonment. It is understood those living in the house are from Romania.
The men and women appeared in court on Saturday.
They were remanded in custody.
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Five people have appeared in court in Trim on charges of theft.
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Safety equipment had allegedly been bypassed on the Tangmere locomotive which meant it passed a signal at danger in Wiltshire earlier this year.
The legal proceedings have been brought by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).
It said its investigation established a high-speed train had passed over the junction about a minute before.
Both West Coast Railway Company and the train driver have been charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The driver has been charged over "alleged intentional misuse of the Train Protection and Warning System equipment", the ORR said.
The firm is facing similar charges, the office said, "on account of its alleged failure to implement managerial controls, procedures, training and monitoring to prevent staff turning off the TPWS equipment".
Both have been ordered to appear before Swindon magistrates in January.
Ian Prosser, HM Chief Inspector of Railways at the ORR, said: "The safety of staff, volunteers, passengers and members of the public is our absolute priority.
"Britain's railways have a good safety record. However, there have been a number of incidents over the past year involving West Coast Railway Company (WCRC) trains.
"The incident at Wootton Bassett junction, where a WCRC train passed a signal at danger, was caused by alleged intentional misuse of a key safety system. This could have easily led to a catastrophic train collision.
"ORR inspectors are working with the rail industry, in particular the mainline heritage sector, to ensure that lessons are learned, and public safety is not put at risk."
At the time of the incident, WCRC - which is based in Carnforth, Lancashire - was operating the steam train as a charter service.
A spokeswoman said "safety remains our paramount priority" and the firm had "worked hard to ensure that we have learned lessons to enhance our safety performance".
"At this time we have not received any papers from the ORR in relation to the prosecution and therefore we are unable to comment on the proceedings," she added.
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A steam train driver and their employer have been charged over a near miss in which a locomotive stopped across a busy main line railway junction.
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He accused the government of failing on its deficit target, debt target and welfare cap - while pledging more taxes, debt and borrowing.
"The verdict could not be clearer - the so-called long-term economic plan has failed," he said.
Mr Hammond said there were not enough high earners to fund Labour ambitions.
Single market access
Giving his response to Mr Hammond's first Autumn Statement as chancellor, Mr McDonnell said the government was "ill-prepared and ill-equipped" to face Brexit - "the greatest economic challenge of a generation".
"The chaotic Tory handling of Brexit threatens the future," he told MPs. "You must now do the right thing for British workers and businesses - you must insist on full, tariff-free access to the single market....
"If you stand up for British business and jobs in fighting for single market access, you will have our support."
Turning to the rest of the statement, Mr McDonnell claimed six million people were earning less than the living wage and accused the Conservatives of treating so-called Jams - those who are "just about managing" - as being an "electoral demographic", adding "to us they are our friends and the people we represent".
"If you really want to make a fair tax system as well, you can start by bringing back the 50p rate for the very richest in our country."
'Race to the bottom'
He said it was regrettable that the chancellor was still going ahead with some of the cuts to Universal Credits, accusing him of "betraying" working single parents who he claims are at least £2,300 worse off.
He called for additional support for the social care budget, stressing: "We now have 3.9 million people on NHS waiting lists ... Many of those are waiting in pain and they have got no relief today."
He described the scrapping of tenant and letting fees as "a victory for Labour campaigning", but said home ownership was still "a dream" for the under 25s because fewer houses had been built under the Conservatives since the 1920s.
He said the chancellor was "continuing a race to the bottom" on corporation tax, while continuing to cut public services and cut taxes for big businesses.
But in response, Mr Hammond said the top 1% of earners contribute 27% of the tax paid. "Unfortunately, there aren't enough of them to finance all your ambitions."
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Chancellor Philip Hammond's spending plans "offer no hope for the future" after six "wasted" years, his Labour counterpart John McDonnell has claimed.
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Seamer Porter dismissed Richard Levi in the third over of the final morning.
Ryan ten Doeschate (4-31) then took 3-17 from nine overs as Adam Rossington and Azharullah fell lbw and David Murphy was caught at mid-on.
Essex wrapped up victory after lunch as Graham Napier bowled Ben Sanderson as the visitors were all out for 230.
Rory Kleinveldt finished unbeaten on 35, having hit five boundaries, and Richard Gleeson made a career-best 13 but Northants folded against the hosts' pace bowlers.
Porter, who has now claimed 22 wickets at 17.18 from his first three Championship matches of 2016, also picked up a career best of 5-46 in the first innings to help Essex maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
BBC Radio Northampton's Alex Winter: "A pretty poor all-round performance from Northamptonshire here. They bowled waywardly on the first day and have been chasing the game since.
"The batting was marginally better in the second innings but nowhere near good enough to get back in the game.
"Essex have put in an efficient display for a huge win and their second victory of the season. Promotion challenge on?"
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Jamie Porter's career-best first-class match figures of 8-91 helped Essex ease to an innings and 92-run victory over Northamptonshire at Chelmsford.
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Media playback is not supported on this device
Carlos Tuimavave and Fetuli Talanoa tries and a Jake Connor penalty gave Hull a 14-12 half-time lead, Cas' Ben Roberts and Zak Hardaker replying.
Connor kicked three more penalties and Roberts crossed again before Hull pulled away when Mahe Fonua and Jamie Shaul scored within two minutes.
Greg Minikin's late try set up a tense finish but Hull's defence stood strong.
Hull's victory set up a semi-final with Leeds Rhinos, while Wigan Warriors, winners against rivals Warrington on Saturday, face Salford Red Devils.
The defeat was only the Tigers' fourth of the season, having won eight successive matches going into the game, with their last loss also coming against Lee Radford's side.
The hosts had flown into a 12-0 lead early on when Tuimavave intercepted a pass to run nearly the full length of the pitch before Talanoa muscled off two defenders to cross.
But Roberts showed fleet of foot to find a gap and score, while Hardaker touched down Luke Gale's smart kick.
Connor's penalty kept Hull in the driving seat, and his kicks kept the score ticking over in the second, as Roberts once more found a gap to get his second try.
But Hull took a firm grip on the match thanks to two quickfire tries, and although Minikin barrelled his way through down the right, Cas' handling mistakes throughout the match came back to haunt them.
Hull head coach Lee Radford:
"I'm very proud of my players. There were plenty of special efforts and that was needed.
"This is the juicy part of the season, the excitement starts now.
"Leeds will be a tough semi-final. I don't think we've beaten them in nine games so it will be a challenging and tough Yorkshire derby. But these are the exciting game to be involved in."
Castleford boss Daryl Powell:
"Obviously I'm disappointed because it was a poor performance. We didn't handle the start well but we battled back well and we thought we could resettle at half-time.
"When we got in front, the way we tried to manage the game was crazy with offloads.
"Hull were too good for us but we have an opportunity against these boys again in the season. They have beaten us twice now this season and we have to find a way to knock them off."
Hull FC: Shaul, Michaels, Fonua, Tuimavave, Talanoa, Kelly, Connor, Taylor, Houghton, Watts, Washbrook, Minichiello, Manu.
Replacements: Bowden, Fash, Thompson, Turgut.
Castleford: Hardaker, Minikin, Webster, Shenton, Eden, Roberts, Gale, Lynch, McShane, Massey, Sene-Lefao, McMeeken, Milner.
Replacements: Millington, Patrick, Larroyer, Foster.
Referee: Phil Bentham
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Defending champions Hull FC defeated Super League leaders Castleford Tigers to reach the Challenge Cup semi-finals.
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Donaldson is back in training following a lengthy lay-off with a heel injury which has kept him out for the whole of Gianfranco Zola's 16 games in charge.
Wigan have lost Sam Morsy, who starts a two-game ban after being booked for the 10th time this season at Blackburn.
They are also waiting form a verdict on the severity of fellow midfielder Shaun MacDonald's knee injury.
MacDonald went off early at Ewood Park, but the Latics are hopeful he has not suffered ligament damage.
Boss Warren Joyce could be back in the Wigan dug-out having watched from the stand on Saturday after undergoing minor surgery.
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Birmingham City remain without Clayton Donaldson and Michael Morrison for the visit of Wigan Athletic to St Andrew's.
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The cards, for the Scottish parliamentary election on 5 May, spell Scotland as "Scotalnd".
The error was not spotted until the official notification started to be delivered to voters in the city.
The authority said it accepted the mistake was "disappointing and embarrassing".
A spokeswoman for the Returning officer said: "This is a very disappointing, and of course, a very embarrassing proofing error.
"The 175,000 poll cards distributed will not be replaced as this unfortunate spelling mistake in no way invalidates the poll cards."
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Aberdeen City Council has said it did not plan to reprint thousands of polling cards which contain a prominent spelling error.
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35837959
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29 March 2016 Last updated at 15:44 BST
Peter Brown watched the footage on his computer at home in Cumbria after it was put online by the University of Manchester to show the Dunkirk evacuation - and lighter moments on HMS Whitehall.
North West Tonight reporter Stuart Flinders spoke to Mr Brown.
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A man spotted his father performing cartwheels and tightrope walking on a Royal Navy destroyer in a World War Two archive film.
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35919641
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